5 years of the Heart
by TTigerz
Summary: Intermission of Divine Power.  The girls have to train for 5 years in the Heart to save their friends and family.  Can they survive their training? Are they in time to save their family and friends?  You must have read Divine Power to get this.
1. And so it begins

_**Hello! Since so many people (2) wanted to know how W.I.T.C.H. trained in those 5 years I decided to give you what you want.**_

_**If you haven't read Divine Power then I suggest you do that.**_

_**Notes: Xin Jing= Heart of Crystal**_

_**Kato Natsuko= Flowing water**_

_**Kobayashi Mieko = Loyal Fire**_

_**Heike Takako = Stubborn Earth**_

_**Matsuki Ayame = Artistic Air**_

_**I put these names into a Japanese name translator and got these out ( All are female names). Also note that it is a custom in Japan that they first tell their family name and then their first name. So instead of Will Vandom it would be Vandom Will.**_

**Chapter 1 So it begins**

NOBODY'S POV:

"C'mon girls. Follow us." Natsuko said.

The girls followed the dragons to another cave.

"Why does it always have to be caves?" Cornelia moaned.

"Why not a mall?"

Irma rolled with her eyes before countering Cornelia's words.

"O yeah. It's completely normal to see 5 dragons walking through a mall." she said sarcastic.

"Can it, Irma. You know what I mean." Cornelia said grumpy.

"Of course! I also want to fight evil in the latest fashion." Irma provoked.

"Here we go." Taranee whispered to Hay-Lin.

"You know what Irma? You are a lazy ass who can't do nothing but spray people with stupid water tricks!" Cornelia shouted.

"And you, Corny, can only play in the mud!" Irma retorted.

"Shut it, you two!" Mieko growled.

"We're here."

The girls were looking at a giant door, big enough to fit for a monster truck.

The door looked like it was made from real animals.

Four owls in the corners of the door, two bears on the outside, two wolves at the top, two turtles at the bottom and two lions in the middle of the door.

"Where is here?" Hay-Lin asked a little insecure.

"We are at door of the realm of the animals.

Here you will spend twenty months, in other words one year." Xin Jing said.

The girls looked at the pink dragon as if she had lost it.

"I don't want to be a party pooper but a year has twelve months." Irma said.

"And why?"

"A year on Earth is twelve months." Ayame said.

"A year in this realm is twenty months."

"You girls have grown up with the teachings of humans." Takako said.

"We cannot use that. That's why you will advance back to your baby status, with no memories of this life until the time is right.

You all will be raised by animals of your own element."

"WHAT?" the girls screamed.

"I'm not going to live with worms! Hell no!" Cornelia said angrily.

The other girls wanted to protest too but the dragons started to light up as if they were flashlights.

The girls looked at each other and saw that they were turning into their younger selves.

Slowly they forgot their lives, as if they didn't live them.

The dragons stopped with shining and saw five baby girls laying on the ground, butt naked.

One with fiery red hair with five elemental symbols on her body,

One with brown hair with the elemental symbol of Water on her hand,

One with a blue black hair color with the elemental symbol of Fire on het foot,

One with blond hair with the elemental symbol of Earth on her foot

And one with black glossy hair with the elemental symbol of Air on her hand.

The girls were asleep.

The dragons used some of their magic to tuck the girls in a sort of napkin.

Then the dragons touched the door.

The owls flew away as the other animals started to disappear.

Each dragon took a girl and flew through the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

It was a bright night.

The full moon lightened up a spot in a forest of the immense island.

On the spot were the five girls visible, as well as five different animals.

"So they've finally arrived." a low voice growled.

"We will watch over the Earth kid."

"I will be honored to raise the Water kid." a soft and gentle voice said.

"I think that we will take the Air kid." a high voice said.

"Momma is going for the Fire kid, y'all." a motherly voice said. (Imagine the voice of Big Momma).

"I'm afraid I cannot take the kid of Energy." a raw voice said.

"Why not?" the gentle voice said.

"She has to learn all of the paths before coming to me.

I think it would be wise if she went with another of her kind." the raw voice said.

"I think it would be smart to let the girls teach all of our paths." the soft and gentle voice said.

"Yes they will have an advantage from it." the high voice chimed in.

"But how do we do that?" the low voice said annoyed.

"We know a little about the others paths."

"Yes, but I think I've got a solution to our problems." the raw voice said.

"I'm listenin' " the motherly voice said.

"If we let the cub of Energy go with the Water cub they will raise together,

So they won't feel alone.

After four months you (pointing at the one with the gentle voice) will send them to the cub of Fire.

After four months the three of them will be send to the cub to the cub of Earth and so on.

After sixteen months they all come to me and my family for their last lessons." the raw voice explained.

"But isn't that a short time? And the cub of Air will be the longest alone and learns only the path of Air." the gentle voice said concerned.

"No, remember what the ancestors said.

They will learn everything from the moment they first open their eyes.

They will age per month, so after four months the cubs will be four years old.

And the others will learn the same as the cub of Energy." the raw voice said.

"Well I think that it is a splendid idea.

I will be honored to take both the cub of Water as the cub of Energy for the first four months." the soft and gentle voice said.

"Then it's settled." the raw voice said.

"May the ancestors watch over us."

The other animals said the same thing and walked away.

_**Well here is the first part of their journey. I hope your happy!**_

_**Stay tuned for the next chapter, Water.**_


	2. Water

**Chapter 2 Water**

_Irma's POV:_

The sun shined through the opening of her shell.

*Ugh… I don't want to get up. Can't the sun go down for a couple of minutes?*

Suddenly she heard a lot of hammering.

"Wakey, Wakey. The sun is up!

C'mon Irma! I want to go swim before breakfast!" a voice said.

"Why don't you go alone?" I said annoyed.

"You know that, that is forbidden. Please sissy?" the voice said.

*Grunt…I guess that I have to get up.*

She came out of her shell.

She saw a girl around her age standing in front of her.

The girl was wearing the same turtle shell as she did but the girl had fiery red hair.

"Morning Will." I yawned.

"Come on! You know that Mother Turtle awakens early!

If we don't act fast then we have to look for food!" Will said hastily.

"Okay, sis. Let's go." I said with a grin.

As long as Irma could remember she had lived with the turtles, together with Will.

The first thing that they told her, was that she and Will were sisters and that they were special.

*Yeah.. special. Maybe because Will has the feeling she doesn't belong here or that she is a stronger swimmer than me.* Irma thought grumpy.

She watched her sister running to the sea as fast as she could with that turtle shell on her back.

Irma ran after Will and together they were playing in the water.

Irma challenged Will to a race and Will got nearly drowned by Irma during the race.

"Haha! I'm victorious!" I said in triumph.

"No fair, Irma!" Will sputtered.

"You almost drowned me!"

"Almost." I said with a sly smile.

"Girls! Come out of the water! You have to go and find some breakfast!" a soft and gentle voice said.

I rolled with my eyes when I recognized the voice.

"Do we have to, Mother Turtle?" Will moaned.

"Yes dear. Now come. After breakfast we will revise everything you've learnt so far." Mother Turtle said before walking back.

Mother Turtle was a gentle turtle, she always helped the girls with their troubles and got rarely angry.

I sighed as I swam after Will.

*Why do we have to find the food?*

The girls walked out of the water and went into the forest.

When they were out of sight they tried standing on their feet.

Mother Turtle had forbidden them to walk on two legs because it was 'weird' so the girls practiced walking every time they were out of eyesight.

"Do you know why we always get these jobs?" Will asked me with a small smile.

"No." I answered.

"It's because if those old turtles tried we would have died from hunger before they returned." Will said grinning.

We laughed as we were fantasizing about those old turtles.

We walked over to some blackberry bushes and started plucking.

"Man I really don't want to revise all the stuff we've learnt." Will moaned.

I just nodded when suddenly something caught my eye.

There was an opening in the bushes and it looked like it went to a tunnel.

I went to it when Will suddenly said: "Irma? What are you doing? You know that we aren't allowed to wander off."

"Come on Will. Don't you want a little adventure?" I said with a playful grin.

Will was looking a little doubtful at the tunnel.

"I don't think this is a good idea." she said.

"And why not?" I answered.

"Too scary for you?"

"NO!" she shouted.

"Well then." I said as I climbed through the opening.

_Will's POV:_

I watched Irma going into the hole.

*Why does she always ignores the words of Mother?* I thought.

"I guess I have to follow. What sister would I be to leave her all alone?" I sighed as I started to climb through the hole after Irma.

*I admire her, though.

She looks so free, careless and happy.

I'm just shy.*

That was true.

Irma was always making noise and making others smile. With danger she would first try to fight before retreating in her shell.

Will on the other hand was different. She was always silent and obedient. If there was any danger she would be the first to retreat and the last to come out.

Sometimes Will wondered if Irma really was her sister.

There came a bright light which indicated that I had reached the end of the tunnel.

I closed my eyes for the sudden light and when I opened them I saw a grinning face in front of me.

"Whoa! Irma! Don't scare me like that!" I said.

"I knew you'd come!" Irma said while hugging me.

"Yeah, well do you have any idea where we are?" I asked, looking around.

"No, but it looks great!" Irma said happily.

"Look over there! A giant tree with apples!"

I looked and saw the tree. The apples looked delicious but they were hanging to high to reach.

Irma, nevertheless, tried to get them.

"Irma we are too tiny to reach the apples." I said, laughing at Irma when she fell on her back.

"Well, stop laughing and get me on my belly!" Irma growled.

I helped Irma turn around when suddenly I thought of something.

"What if you tried to stand on my shoulders?" I said.

"Then we might reach them."

Irma looked at me and I could see her thinking.

Then she smiled at me.

"I see your brains are already at work." she grinned.

I held my hands out so that she could step on them.

She stepped on my hands and then climbed on my shoulders.

We were standing very instable but Irma was able to get some apples before we fell down.

"I must say sis, that was pretty smart." Irma said while picking up some apples.

I just blushed as I picked up other apples.

"So… shall we go back?" I asked.

But Irma didn't hear me.

She was walking towards another opening between the trees.

"Irma!" I hissed as I ran after her.

"Irma what do you think you're doing?" I said before stopping and gazing at a great field.

It was a beautiful grass field.

Here and there were some flowers and some butterflies were flying lazily over the field.

A giant rock was standing in the middle of the field.

And on that rock there was someone sitting.

It looked like the girls but this creature had white hair everywhere and a tail.

We walked to him and it seemed like he was sleeping.

Irma tried to poke him when suddenly he spoke.

"What brings you here, little humans?" the creature said, not opening his eyes.

I looked at Irma a little confused.

"Humans?" I said.

"We're not humans… we are turtles."

"And what are you? Daring to call us that?" Irma said poking the creature.

"I am Abasat. I'm a monkey." Abasat the monkey answered as he opened his eyes.

"And you are certainly humans."

"What are humans?" I asked interested.

"Humans, my dear child, are also animals although they think that they are better than us." Abasat said.

"They have forgotten the Paths and are destroying the world."

"But we don't think that we're better than anyone!" Irma said a little angry.

Was this monkey playing a trick on them?

"Ah! I remember. You must be two of the five." Abasat said.

"Well it is an honor to meet you."

I looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What five?" I asked.

Abasat sighed as he looked me straight in my eyes.

His bright blue eyes looked a little scary.

"That's something you have to find out for yourselves, little one." he said.

"Now I believe that your 'parents' are waiting for you."

Irma wanted to throw an apple at him but I stopped her.

"Let's go." I muttered at her.

"See you soon, little ones.

May the ancestors enlighten your Path." Abasat said.

"See you soon, mister Abasat!" I said as I nudged Irma.

"Uch. Yeah, see you soon mister." Irma said a little unwilling.

We then turned around and walked back to the tunnel.

The whole way we were silent and thinking of what Abasat had said.

When we finally had reached the shore we heard a voice.

"What are you two doing!" the voice shouted.

"Walk normal! And where were you?"

We quickly put our hands on the ground while balancing the fruits on our hands as we turned around to see Father Turtle coming towards us.

He may look a little grumpy on the outside but he was really nice and loving.

"Hiya, Father." Irma said lightly.

"We had a little trouble getting these apples, that's all!"

Father Turtle was frowning but then sighed.

"Just deliver those apples to the ones who are cooking and wash your paws." he said before turning around.

We gave the apples and blackberries to one of the other turtles and then waited for breakfast.

"You haven't washed your paws." an annoying voice said.

"And I'm gonna tell."

It was Chrit, our annoying little brother.

He always tried to annoy or tease us.

"If you even dare, I swear that I'll drown you with the first flood." Irma breezed to our little brother.

Chrit saw that Irma meant it and kept quiet.

After breakfast we walked after Mother Turtle for our lessons.

We got these lessons for as long as I can remember and they weren't fun at all.

We had to learn about the tides, how the moon effects the water, and how to relax and let our worries flush away.

"Well then little ones. Let's start our lesson."

"And no groaning Irma." Mother Turtle added, making Irma pout.

"Life is..?"

"Life is sacred. Every life should be respected and not killed." we said.

"What is water?"

"Water is a basic element. It gives the necessary water to plants and gives life.

But it also can bring destruction by flooding the land.

Earth and Water are always in a conflict about who is superior." Irma and I said in unison.

"But everyone knows water is the best." Irma added softly while smiling at me.

I grinned but Mother Turtle hadn't notice.

"Water is a symbol for?" she asked.

"Relaxing body and mind. Also for purification." we said in a dry voice.

"Good to see that you remember your things.

As you know, tomorrow, the fourth month ends." Mother Turtle said.

"What's happening when the month ends?" I asked.

"You'll see my child." Mother Turtle answered.

"Now to the lesson.

Today we are going to learn… Yes Irma?" Mother Turtle said a little surprised.

"Mother, can you tell us what humans are?" Irma asked innocently.

Mother Turtle looked shocked.

"W-Where did you hear that word?" she asked Irma.

"When we were plucking fruit we came across a monkey." I said quickly.

"He told us that we were humans and not turtles. He also said something about the five."

"Abasat. Am I right?" Mother Turtle said, sounding tired.

"Yes." I answered shocked.

"How do you know?"

"He is a wandering monkey who is a dear friend of mine." Mother Turtle said with a sigh.

"So… What are humans? Who are the five?" Irma asked anxiously.

Mother Turtle sighed again.

"You weren't supposed to find out before the end of this month.

But I guess, I have to tell you."

"Tell us what?" I asked curious.

"You weren't born here with us." Mother Turtle said.

"The ancestors brought you to us."

"W-What do you mean?" Irma said not understanding.

"You girls come from another world. A world reigned by humans.

It's a rather polluted world and most have forgotten how to live according to the Paths.

Humans are a sort monkeys, they only have no hair or scales.

They wear furs from other animals to keep warm."

*We are… monkeys? Is that why we were always shunned by the other turtles?

No. It can't be true! We've lived here for 4 years…or months… My head hurts.*

"You, out of all humans, have lived according to the Paths but your human teachings had made it difficult for you to follow the Paths.

That's why the ancestors granted you another life, or rather the same, to learn the Paths from us."

"I-I don't understand." Irma said confused.

"We can't be humans! We were born here!" I exclaimed.

Mother Turtle smiled a little sad at us.

"If that were true, Will, then why isn't your skin color green?

Or why are you two the only ones who need a bigger shell if you're getting to tall?

Or why can't you hold your breath as long as the others?

Or how can you walk on your two back paws while the rest of us can't?

I'm afraid that you are humans."

I shook my head.

It couldn't be true! It was a lie!

But Mother Turtle kept talking.

"The five that Abasat referred to are the five human children that five different animals raise.

In other words, your true family.

But this doesn't mean I don't love you. I love you with all my heart and I will never stop loving you."

This was too much.

It had to be a lie! All those years… months that the other turtles called them names like 'Freak' or 'monster', it was just because we were different.

But we are turtles.

I felt hot tears rolling over my cheeks.

I stood up and started running on my two legs.

I couldn't care less about what the other turtles would think if they saw me.

I just ran and ran. Not looking back, not even when I heard Irma screaming my name.

Running to the trees, which were looking inviting.

_Irma's POV:_

I couldn't believe what Mother told us.

We…humans?

I wanted to ask Will what she thought but I saw her crying.

Before I could say something Will stood up and started to run on her two legs!

I wanted to go after her but Mother stopped me.

"Let her go. She needs some time."

I looked desperate at Will and I screamed her name.

She didn't come back. She just ran into the forest.

For the first time, since I can remember, I felt alone.

Now more than ever I know… or at least I think I know that I'm a human.

"Mother what do we do now?" I asked, feeling desperate.

"I'm afraid that we have to wait. And hope that she returns before the sun sets." Mother Turtle said sad.

I felt my own tears coming up and crawled against Mother Turtle.

I cried out of loneliness and worry while Mother turtle petted my head.

_Will's POV:_

I ran further and further through the woods.

I didn't want to believe what she told me.

But somewhere in my heart I could feel that she was right.

It would explain the differences between me and the other turtles.

I stopped and sat against a rock.

I was so stupid. We couldn't be turtles. I've always known that.

It just felt so unreal.

"Back again, little one?" a voice said behind me.

I was startled by the voice and was half-way retreating in my shell when I recognized the voice.

"Yes, sir." I answered between some sobs.

"Why are you crying?" Abasat asked.

"I-I don't know." I said realizing that I've been crying about nothing.

"Then I suggest that you stop crying. If you don't know why you're crying then it has no use to do so." Abasat said matter-of-factly.

"You and your friend are just like the first Path." he then suddenly said.

"Your friend more than you but nonetheless."

I stood up and looked in confusion at the monkey.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The first Path, as I am sure you know, is the Path of Water.

You can't give your life to someone else, for it's like water; water is soft, yet it can overcome rock. It does not fight; it moves around the opponent, boneless, nameless. The true master dwells within. Only you can give it its meaning and only you can be free."

I stared at the monkey.

Why does he talks in riddles? It's so difficult to understand…

"I-I don't know what you mean." I said unsure.

Abasat smiled at me and said: "Will you and your friend have a bond.

Stronger than rocks yet softer than water.

You are trying to run away from your destiny, even trying to give it to someone else.

But only when you feel complete you are free."

It still sounded confusing but it made more sense than the stuff he said earlier.

So I just nodded.

I felt that I was getting tired so I just closed my eyes, hoping that Abasat wouldn't be angry with me for sleeping.

A weird dream followed. I saw a flying creature, a giant brown one, a grey one and a creature that looked like royalty.

I awakened with a big yawn.

The sun had set and I looked around.

Abasat was still smiling at me

"Ah, I see that you're awake." he said with a gentle smile.

He gave me an apple when we suddenly heard yelling.

_Irma's POV:_

When I saw the sun set I decided to go look for Will.

I sneaked into the forest and was glad that no-one had noticed me.

They were too busy with the news that some Taylor guy had entered the lands and how to find Will to even notice me.

I walked through the bushes and it suddenly struck me.

I had no idea where to go.

I sat down looking at the sky. It was a nice color of orange.

*Where did Will go to?* I thought.

Then it hit me.

*If I don't know, maybe Abasat can help me!*

I got up and started to run at the tunnel where I uhmm… we first met him.

I hurried through the tunnel and I could see Abasat's tail from behind the rock.

I wanted to walk up to him when I suddenly had the feeling that someone was spying on me.

I looked around and saw six yellow eyes looking at me from the bushes.

"Who's there?" I said as loud as I dares, which wasn't loud.

Slowly three dog like things cam walking out of the bushes.

"What do we have here?" one dog thing said.

"A monkey with no hair and a turtle shell?"

"I don't know Scarlett." another answered.

"Who are you?" I asked terrified.

"We, little girl, are hyenas. I'm Scarlett, this is Smokey and Simon." the hyena called Scarlett said while pointing at the other two hyenas.

And we are hungry."

"W-What about a-an a-apple?" I asked in fear.

The three started to laugh.

"I'm sorry but we don't eat fruit. We are more meat people." Simon said.

I looked around in fear. Then I pointed at a tree behind them and said: "What's that?"

The three looked around to see to what I was pointing at and I started running to Abasat.

"That's a tree." I heard Simon say.

"Hey! come back here!" Scarlett growled as the hyenas started to run after me.

I screamed.

I could see my whole life flashing in front of my eyes.

I saw that Abasat was looking at me and I saw also someone else looking.

Will!

Abasat came running at me but the hyenas had already caught up.

They kicked me over and I shot forward.

I was caught by Will.

"Will! Am I glad to see you!" I said while Will was helping me up.

Will just nodded but she seemed different.

She looked angry at the three hyenas who were stopped by Abasat.

"What do you want, monkey?" Scarlett snarled.

"None shall harm these children." Abasat said in an impressive voice.

"I don't want to harm them." Simon said.

"Just eat them."

Abasat punched Simon on his nose making the hyena flinch.

"Why you." Scarlett said.

"Leave him alone!" I heard Will saying.

"You want us! Come and get us!"

If I hadn't seen her lips move I wouldn't believe it.

Will, shy unsure and scared Will, wanted to fight three hyenas who were bigger than us?

"Don't be stupid!" Abasat said.

"Run!"

I wasn't planning on running and leaving the monkey dude.

"No! they want us, they can try and get us!" I said.

At that point the rain suddenly started to fall.

The ground became muddy.

Abasat nodded solemnly and stepped aside.

The hyenas were smiling.

"So the two monkey shells think that they can handle us?" Scarlett said.

"HAHAHAHA, good one Scarlett." Simon said.

"I know." Scarlett said with a grin.

"Get them."

The three hyenas started to run towards us, slipping a couple of times over the mud.

I was getting scared. How were we supposed to win against those guys?

"Irma do you remember the flip and slide game?" Will suddenly said to me.

I frowned.

"Yes but how is that going to help us…" I said when I saw Will's plan.

"Let's do it!" I said and run up to the hyenas.

Just before I would touch the hyenas I withdrew in my shell.

I glided against their paws and knew Will was doing the same thing.

"You wretches!" Scarlett scowled as she tried to get out of the mass of limbs of the others that were on top of her.

I came out of my shell at the same time as Will did.

"Good work kids! Now run home! I'll hold them off!" Abasat said.

"So you're going to stop me too?" a dark voice said behind us.

I turned around to see a giant cat with black and orange stripes over his body.

"Who are you?" Will demanded even though she sounded scared.

"I'm Taylor." the tiger said.

"What do you want from them?" Abasat asked.

"They are just children."

"But they can form a great threat." Taylor said mischievously.

"I can't let them wander around."

Abasat attacked Taylor while screaming:"Run!"

I wanted to help him but Will pulled my arm.

I looked at her and saw that tears were rolling over her cheeks but she looked determined.

We ran through the rain, we kept running and hearing a angry roar in the distance.

We finally made it to the beach.

Mother Turtle came walking to us, in shock.

"Where were you?" she asked us concerned.

I was panting and heard Will say something.

"I-I ran to Abasat and he helped me with my p-problems." Will said.

"I then fell asleep and when I woke up I heard Irma shout.

Then I saw three hyenas and a tiger called Taylor."

I took over from Will.

"Abasat fought with that Taylor guy and told us to run." I said sobbing.

"I th-think he's d-dead."

We started to cry while Mother Turtle was looking in alarm at Father.

"Girls, there is no time to lose." Mother said to us.

"You will go to your next destination, first thing in the morning."

We just nodded as we tried to forget what happened a moment ago.

_**That was one interesting day, wouldn't you agree?**_

_**For everyone who is confused.**_

_**In 1 month the girls age 1 year in this realm, at least for now.**_

_**Stay tuned for the next chapter, Fire.**_


	3. Fire

**Chapter 3 Fire**

_Irma's POV:_

I was walking.

I was wearing some kind of fur around my chest and my hips.

I also looked older.

It was raining really hard and I was fighting together with three other girls.

"Cornelia!" I screamed.

"Do you know where Will is?"

I saw the blond one shaking her head as she resumed growing trees.

I created a giant water ball and threw it at a shadowy figure.

It got hit hard but a girl with long pigtails came to my aid.

Suddenly our attention was drawn to a giant rock.

I saw a girl with blazing red hair directing her hands to the clouds.

She did something and suddenly thunder started to roar.

She looked at me and sent a bolt right at me…

I opened my eyes but I could feel myself shake.

I slowly came out of my shell while trying to remember my dream.

*Who were those three girls?* I thought.

*And more importantly why did Will throw… something…*

Slowly every memory I had from my dream started to seep away.

I looked at Will's shell and lightly knocked on it.

I heard Will yawn and mumbling about a couple of shadows, so I knocked harder.

Slowly Will's head popped out of her shell.

She looked sleepily around and then looked at me.

"Irma? Why are you awake? It's still da… Never mind." she said as she saw that the sun started to rise.

I smiled at her.

Will wasn't always the early riser.

Especially not when it had been a exhausting day.

I still couldn't believe what had happened.

Abasat dead and we're being humans and stuff…

Will slowly got up and walked to me.

"Everything okay?" she asked concerned.

"Yes, yes…" I answered, not knowing what to say.

She smiled reassuringly at me when Mother and Father came walking towards us.

"You two!" Father barked.

"Come over here! It's time to go!"

I looked confused at Will and she looked confused at me.

We slowly walked up to our 'parents'.

*I still can't believe that they aren't our parents.* I thought.

*I mean… It's just weird….*

"What are you talking about, Father?" Will asked.

"You know what happened yesterday." Father Turtle answered briskly.

"You've got to go."

I opened my eyes in shock.

"Go? So you just want to abandon us?" I asked, my eyes filling up with tears.

"No, no. We really want you to stay." Mother Turtle said quickly.

"Then why send us away?" Will said angrily.

I could see the tears in her eyes.

Mother just sighed.

"We've made a promise that, when the fourth month ends, we would send you to your next family."

"So? And if we don't want to?" Will said angrily.

"Please, Will. Don't make it more difficult than it is.

Normally we would accompany you to your next family but I'm afraid that we would only slow you down." Mother Turtle said sadly.

"We've made you these." Father Turtle said while nudging at two packages of leafs.

"For when you get hungry."

"Follow the path west from here and you'll find the next family." Mother Turtle said briskly.

I looked at Will.

I saw her crying but it also looked like she was thinking.

She then looked at me and said:"Irma… I think we should go."

I looked in shock at her.

"Go?" I said softly.

"But Will… why?"

Will just shrugged and said: "I don't know. Something or someone tells me that it would be for the best if we go."

I looked at her in disbelieve.

Will wasn't the type to walk away from home.

But then again, every time she had a hunch it always ended up to be correct.

I nodded and walked to Mother.

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug.

I did the same with Father.

When Will hugged Mother, Mother said with great sadness:

"Now go. And you know it, at peril retreat in your shell."

We nodded and slowly walked away, carrying the packages that the turtles had made for us.

I saw a lot of turtles sleeping.

Oh how I wished to lay in my shell, thinking of nothing and later on teasing Chrit a little.

But noooo…. our destiny was to go to other families.

Man I hate destiny!

I stopped looking back and looked straight forward.

_Will's POV:_

*I just can't believe that they send us away…* I thought.

*Although, to be honest… I kinda like it…*

I looked back and waved for the last time at Father and Mother.

I saw Irma looking longing at the other turtles.

I knew she had problems with leaving them.

But we have to go further.

Our future isn't with them but elsewhere and she knows it.

A long time none of us were talking.

I didn't feel like it, I felt that every time I wanted to say something I would start to cry and I didn't want that.

When the sun was at its highest point we decided to take a rest, we've walked more than we ever had and we were exhausted.

We opened our packages and saw lots of berries lying in them.

We started to eat without saying a word.

"Irma…" I said.

"What do you think happened with Abasat?"

Irma looked at me as if I had gone nuts but then she shrugged.

"I don't know" she answered, her voice heavy with tears.

Then she started to rant.

"Will! Why did we have to leave?

You don't know anything about the outside world!

What if that tiger comes back to attack us? Or those hyenas?

Ever thought about that?

I know you never felt at home with the turtles but I did!" she said angrily at me.

I felt myself starting to blush but I also felt anger.

I knew she was right but it hurts to hear it from your own sister… or at least I think she is.

I stood up and looked at Irma.

"We had to leave because else we would have endangered them!" I said angrily.

"And if those hyenas attack us, so what?

We just hide in our shells and they can't harm us!

And if they ever tried to hurt you then they have to go through me!"

Irma looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Y-You would pr-protect me?" she said surprised.

I looked at her and saw that she was ashamed of what she had said.

"Of course, you're my sister." I said smiling.

Tears started to well up when Irma ran over to me and hugged me.

She was crying over my shoulder and I just hugged her back.

"It's alright." I said.

"I know how you feel."

We stood there for some time when suddenly someone said something.

"Isn't it cute, Scarlett?

Lunch is cuddling."

We turned around and we saw the three hyenas from yesterday.

Irma and I instinctively withdrew in our shells.

"Ah. I hate it when they do that.

Does anyone have a tin-opener with them?" Scarlett said annoyed.

I heard them walking towards us and I felt myself shiver.

*We're done for!* I thought.

*We never should have left!*

I heard the paws of the hyenas walking past me and then heard them knocking on another shell.

"Hello! Little monkey turtle!

Come out, come out!

We're kinda hungry." Simon said.

"NO!" I heard Irma scream.

"Go throw yourselves in a river!"

"Wrong answer." Scarlett growled and I heard that she was using her nails against Irma's shell.

I heard Irma cry in fright and I suddenly felt a huge anger in me.

How dare they try to eat Irma?

I came out of my shell and one of the hyenas sneered:"Lookie, Lookie. What do we have here?

A brave monkey turtle?

Oh well, that makes it easier for us to eat you."

He barked at me to frighten me but I didn't care.

"Keep your filthy paws of Irma!" I screamed as I ran to one of the hyenas.

I punched him with my hand and he wailed in pain.

"Why you little…" he growled.

"That hurts!"

While the other two were walking to their comrade I ran to Irma.

I shook her shell and said:"Irma…Irma please, run! At least one of us has to go!"

Irma slowly came out of her shell, pale and shivering.

"Will?" she said.

"No! I can't leave you alone!"

"Irma… stop being so stubborn!" I said annoyed.

"No! One for all and all for one! I'm staying with you." she said stubbornly.

I sighed but when I wanted to start running together with Irma I noticed that we were surrounded.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to my nose." a hyena said.

Now I was sincerely scared.

I couldn't move.

I felt Irma behind me shivering.

The hyena growled and prepared himself to attack as I closed my eyes.

*Please let it be quick* I thought.

Suddenly I heard a loud roar and I heard the hyenas whine.

It sounded like another animal had come to save us… or eat us.

I heard noises of a fight when suddenly the noise stopped.

I heard paws running away and felt Irma nudging me.

"Will. Will!" she whispered.

"Open your eyes!"

I slowly opened my eyes and saw great, black furred creature.

It reminded me of one of the lessons of Mother.

It looked like a… bear?

"Are you kids alright?" she said in a motherly (Big momma's voice) way.

"A-Are you going to eat us?" Irma asked trembling.

The bear looked confused at us.

"Eat you? Well no!" she said.

"Now lemma ask you, who are you?"

I looked at Irma, thinking if it would be a good idea to tell her who we are.

"She did save our lives." Irma muttered.

I looked at the bear.

"My name is Will Vandom. And hers is Irma Lair." I said as politely as I could.

A big smile came over the face of the bear.

"Ah! So it's you I've been waitin' for. I must say, I thought you looked different.

Maybe it's because you're wearing those weird shells.

Come with me. Oh, Taranee will be glad!"

I even looked more confused.

Was she the one to who we had to go?

And who's Taranee?

"Ma'am, who are you… and who is Taranee?" Irma asked unsure.

"Of cours. I've forgotten to introduce ma self.

I'm Momma Bear.

You will meet Taranee later, now… are you comin or not?"

Then Momma Bear started to walk.

I again looked at Irma but she just shrugged and started walking after Momma Bear.

*I wonder if she allows us to walk on two feet.* I thought as I walked after Irma.

(The girls are walking on their feet.)

It didn't take long for us to reach a couple of caves in the middle of the forest.

When we arrived no-one was there except for one snoring monkey.

The monkey was bigger than Abasat, his tail was shorter and had black fur all over.

Momma Bear made it clear that we had to be silent and we walked silently into the cave behind the monkey.

The cave was rather deep.

It was a big circular room with six lumps of grass laying on the ground.

On two of those lumps lay some brown fur.

"Girls… It's not that they don't suit you but it moves quite annoying in those damned shells.

So take those of and put the fur on that's laying on your beds." Momma Bear said pointing at the fur on the grass lumps.

I walked to one bed and grabbed the fur.

It felt soft and light… extremely light.

I blushed a little when I took of my shell… I've never seen Irma or myself naked and I felt a strange feeling of shame coming over me.

I put on my new clothes.

It were two things.

One was a top which covered my chest and shoulders while the other was some sort of pants that came till my knees.

When I was wearing my new clothes I realized something.

I actually had gotten lighter!

I didn't feel a heavy weight on my back and I could stand up straight.

I jumped and noticed that I jumped higher than first.

I looked at Irma and saw that she was trying the same thing.

Then I noticed Momma Bear watching us in amazement and amusement.

It must be because we were walking and jumping on two legs instead of four…

I quickly bend over to stand on my four paws, just like Irma, when Momma Bear said: "What are you doin?

I bet those turtles never let you walk on your legs… Here you can walk like you want."

I was glad to hear that. No more secretly practicing on walking, running and jumping on two legs.

I straightened and was smiling.

Irma and I decided to race against each other.

Who could reach the wall of the cave first?

It was kinda weird running without a shell on your back but it was fun.

We were faster than first, maybe because we didn't have a shell to slow us down.

It was a neck-to-neck race and we reached the wall together.

"This is so much better!" Irma exclaimed happy when we suddenly heard some noise.

"That was fun Peter! But now I'm wet everywhere. I don't think Momma is going to like it…" a girl's voice said, laughing.

"It's your own fault for falling into the water, sis. I warned you not to use the liana until you're ready for it." a impish boy voice said.

"But you said I was ready!" the girl's voice exclaimed.

"Yeah… Oh look! Dad's sleeping… Let's wake him!" the boy's voice said quickly.

It was temporary silent as I looked at Irma in shock.

Who were those animals outside?

Suddenly we heard a cry which made us jump.

"AARGH! You two! Can't you let an old monkey sleep?" a low impish voice said.

"But Dad… you were blocking our way in." the boy's voice said.

Momma Bear shook her head as she beckoned the two girls to follow her.

"It was all Peter's idea, Dad!" I heard the girl's voice say apologetically.

"Sure, but I didn't hear you protest!" the boy's voice said.

"Could you stop bickering?" Momma Bear said as she walked out the cave.

Me and Irma were hiding just behind the cave wall.

"Ah… Hiya Momma." the boy's voice said awkwardly.

The voice revealed to be the voice of a long monkey.

He had black fur just like the one who had been sleeping but the hairs on his head looked longer.

Next to him was standing to older monkey. He was smiling and you could see a couple of grey streaks running over his belly.

"Hi Momma" the girl's voice said.

"Normally I would scold you for waking your father but he was blocking the cave." Momma Bear said.

"Are the new ones already here?" the monkey boy asked.

"Yeah, are they Momma?

I want to know how turtles look like!" the girl's voice said.

I had to grin when I heard that. If she was hoping to see turtles then she would get a wrong picture of them.

"You know they aren't turtles Taranee." Momma Bear said.

"They've just grown up with the turtles."

"But are they here, honey?" the older monkey asked.

"In fact they are. Irma. Will. Come out and show yourselves!" Momma Bear shouted.

I felt myself shaking.

I was already dreading this.

Irma hit my arm and winked at me playfully.

"Shall I go first?" she asked.

My fear was seeping away.

I felt like, with Irma on my side, nothing terrible could happen.

"Let's go together." I said.

And together we walked out of the cave.

_Irma's POV:_

I walked out of the cave together with Will and we saw two monkeys standing there together with Momma Bear. But no girl.

*I wonder who that girl was.* I thought.

"I am Dad." the older monkey said, introducing himself.

The younger monkey didn't say a thing.

He was just looking at us in surprise.

He must had noticed that he was being impolite because he quickly said: "I'm Peter. N-Nice to meet you."

Will and I introduced ourselves shyly when Momma Bear suddenly roared.

"Taranee Cook! Where are your manners, young lady?

Come and introduce yourself."

Slowly from behind Peter another person appeared.

Only this person wasn't a bear, nor a monkey.

It…It…

"You're one of us!" Will exclaimed as the girl walked towards us.

She had a dark skin color and her black hair was tied together.

Her brown eyes looked interested at us, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

She looks a little more muscular than Will or me and she was wearing the same clothes as us.

She was walking towards us on her two legs.

"Hi. I'm Irma." I said waving at her.

Taranee waved at me with an unsure smile and then focused her attention on Will.

I don't exactly know what happened but something clicked between Will and Taranee.

The two looked at each other as if they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

Suddenly Will and Taranee started to hug each other.

"I knew I would see you." Taranee said.

"I'm glad I've found you." Will said.

I couldn't understand what the two of them were saying.

It sounded as if the two of them had met years ago and found each other again.

I didn't like it how Taranee was acting with Will.

I felt almost abandoned by Will.

How could she just hug a complete stranger?

Or was she… Somewhere I could feel a memory coming back. One in which Taranee was in…

And Taranee looked like us… she was human too… maybe she was one of the five…

But that didn't make her my sister.

I interrupted their hug a little rude and went to stand in front of Taranee, holding Will behind my back.

"Now you listen here, sissy." I said angrily.

"I've just met you but that doesn't mean you can take Will.

Will and I are sisters. You are a stranger!"

Taranee looked a little hurt but then suddenly she fired back.

"O yeah? You are the stranger here, Irma!" she said angrily.

"I look the same as you or Will!

We have to be family! And Will wants to be my sister too!"

I turned angrily at Will.

I didn't want to believe Taranee.

"Will, you don't want to be her big sister? Do you?" I demanded.

Will looked a little lost at me.

She took a big breath, started to play with her hair and looked me right in my eyes.

"Yes, Irma. She is the same as us.

Can't you feel the bond? And if Taranee wants then I'll be her sister and I suggest that you would do the same."

I couldn't believe my ears.

Will was betraying me?

"Fine! If you want to be sisters with this… creature, just do it!

But then you're not a sister of me!" I screamed at Will in rage.

I turned around and started to run, tears rolling of my cheeks.

_Taranee's POV:_

I watched as the girl with brown hair ran away.

I couldn't understand why she was so hostile against me.

I mean it's obvious that we're the same so why wouldn't she accept me?

Will wasn't acting like that.

When I first saw Will I felt something.

As if it was meant to be, to be her friend. As if she was a long lost sister.

But Irma didn't seem to think so.

I also didn't feel the same bond with Irma… I felt something else.

As if she was exactly the opposite of me.

I wanted to ask Momma if we could follow her but before I asked she shook her head.

"It would be better to leave her alone, at least for now."

I wanted to object but then suddenly it started to rain.

Momma, Dad and Peter were running into our cave and I saw other bears and monkeys running to their caves.

Will on the other hand was still standing, looking at the direction where Irma went away.

I pulled her arm and reluctantly she followed me into the cave.

Will was silent as she was watching the rain.

I never liked the rain. No, give me something nice and warm.

Hours seemed to pass and Irma hadn't returned yet.

Will didn't even move from her spot and I saw Momma and Dad looking worried.

The rain also hadn't stopped.

"Will?" I asked.

Will slowly turned her head to me, showing concern and sadness.

"Yes, Taranee?" she said with a hint of sobs in her voice.

"C-Could you tell me something about yourself?" I asked awkward.

Will's expression changed.

It looked like she was thinking.

"Why?" she asked.

I shuffled with my feet.

"Well… I don't know anything about you or Irma… and I wondered if you could tell me something about yourself." I said.

Will gave me an understanding smile and said: "I could do that… but that wouldn't be fair."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"I learnt, when I was with the turtles, that being humble is a virtue. And if I would tell you something of myself I would tell you my best qualities and leave the bad ones…"

"I think that Irma would describe me better." she added sadly.

I saw that the thought of Irma troubled her.

I had to admit that I also felt a little uneasy.

Why? I've never met the girl and when I did she was so hostile… Why do I have the feeling that I miss her?

I changed strategy.

"Then… could you tell me something about Irma?" I asked.

Will's expression brightened.

And she suddenly started to talk.

"O Irma. She is … very nice.

She is always concerned about me but she also likes to joke.

She always seeks the attention and fights instead of runs.

She has a habit for getting into minor problems and she sometimes insults someone without realizing." she said happily.

*She sounds like the opposite me.* I thought.

*She likes to get the attention and I don't, she jokes freely while I never would have dared to do something like that.

And I never try to get into problems.*

"You really like her, don't you?" I said to Will with a smile.

"I really love to be her big sister."

Somewhere that hurt. It felt like Will was favoring Irma above me.

"You like her more than me?" I asked without realizing.

Will's expression turned into a motherly one.

"No. I like you both equally." she said in a firm tone.

But I felt still hurt.

"Why Will? Why? I mean you just met me! You and Irma are maybe even real sisters!

I'm just a… a stranger." I said, feeling tears running across my cheeks.

I closed my eyes and turned around, so that Will wouldn't see me cry.

Suddenly I felt two arms surrounding me.

Will was hugging me.

"I might have met you just now it doesn't mean that I don't love you." she said, tightening her hug.

"I felt the same bond I have with Irma, with you. Maybe even stronger.

You are my sister, you just have to be. Why else would you look like us?

You are my sister just like Irma."

I turned around and hugged Will while crying on her shoulder.

"It's okay." Will whispered in my ear.

Momma, Dad and Peter were watching this scene from a distance.

"So what are you going to do know?" Peter asked, interrupting the scene.

I dried my eyes and said briskly: "We are going to find our lost sister.

We are going to look for Irma."

Will widened her eyes when she heard it but then smiled at me.

Momma on the other hand wasn't too happy with this news.

"What!" she roared.

"You can't go outside, it's raining! A real downpour!

Besides it's getting late and I don't want the two of you wandering around during night time!"

I felt an anger growing inside me.

Momma wasn't going to stop me from looking for Irma and it looked like Will had the same idea.

"Well Irma is outside! In this rain AND during night time!" Will retorted.

"What do you expect us to do? Stay here and wait for her?"

"Yeah! She might have been eaten, or attacked or lost or worse!" I shouted.

Momma was taken a little off guard.

I never ever dared to argue with her. I normally obeyed her but I wasn't going leave a sister!

And then Will.

She was just here and already picking a fight with Momma.

Dad chuckled a little.

Then he came with a solution.

"What if we let them go with Peter?" he asked.

Momma was thinking and Peter helped her decide.

"Yeah Momma. I could save them if it would get too dangerous." he said.

Momma was thinking even harder when she got to a solution.

"Okay, you can go. But if you're not back in two sun blocks I'll send someone after you."

"Sun blocks? How are you knowing when it's time?" Peter asked curiously.

"Seeing that there is no sun."

Momma didn't seem to have thought about that.

I suddenly got an idea.

I took some grass from our beds and a couple of sticks that were lying all over the cave flour.

I made a staple and put my hands on it.

"What are you doing, Taranee?" Will asked curiously.

"No! Stop that Taranee! Don't…" Peter said but I didn't listen to him.

I felt some kind of warmth coming from my hands and suddenly the grass (and twigs) started to burn.

"How did you do that?" Will asked astounded.

I smiled.

"I don't know." I said.

"It happened once before when I got angry… But that doesn't matter

What matters is that if we aren't back before the fire's out, you can send someone to find us."

Momma just nodded, too amazed and surprised to say something.

I grabbed Will and Peter by their arms and together we ran into the rain.

When we were just out of the cave and had taken cover under a tree I thought of something.

"Anyone an idea where Irma could be?" Peter said.

I shook my head. I felt so useless!

I came with the idea to go and look for her but I didn't know a thing about Irma.

Will on the other hand looked like she was in a trance and started walking.

"Will! Where are you going?" Peter asked.

"To Irma, where else?" she answered.

I looked confused at Peter.

How did she know where Irma was?

This was a part of the forest where Will nor Irma has ever been.

How could she know?

"Will… Irma could have gone everywhere." I said.

Will nodded but looked at me fiercely.

"I know." she said.

"But I can féél her Taranee."

I didn't know why but it felt like I could trust Will on that.

So I nodded.

Peter wasn't sure to trust Will.

"Look Will. You can't feel people. That's impossible." he said.

Will turned to Peter and gave him a simple answer.

"It is also impossible to create fire with your fingers."

Then she turned around and started walking again.

I followed quickly behind and I heard Peter sigh before he too started to follow us.

We walked through the rain, ignoring the cold that it brought until we reached a river.

The river seemed to start from a giant waterfall and at the foot of the waterfall a girl was laying.

A girl with flowing brown hair…

_Irma's POV:_

_(After she ran away and found a spot at the waterfall)_

"Stupid Taranee." I said angrily.

"She's just destroying the bond I have with Will."

I looked at the water and saw myself looking angry.

I didn't look pretty… I looked mean and monstrous.

I tried to relax with some exercises the turtles taught me…and Will.

I hated this feeling! It didn't feel right!

Will is my sister! She wouldn't betray me!

I felt a strange power running through me as my first tears started to roll.

It began to rain but the rain didn't touch me. So I didn't care.

Stupid, stupid me! Will is a nice girl. She had enough love to love Taranee and me both!

And Taranee… she … resembled us… Maybe she was a sister…

No! What was I thinking?

Taranee never lived with us… she didn't know anything about me or Will!

I curled up like a ball while tears were falling.

I was so confused.

Did I hate Taranee?

Would Will really betray me?

Are they looking for me?

I must have fallen asleep 'cause when I opened my eyes again I noticed that it had gotten darker. At least I thought so…

*Man… I wish this rain would stop!* I thought.

But it kept raining.

"Irma!" I heard.

It.. It couldn't be… Will?

I stood up and turned around.

I couldn't believe my eyes!

It wasn't just Will who stood there, but also Peter and… Taranee.

"Will!" I cried.

They came running at me and I suddenly felt the rain falling on me.

But I didn't care.

They had come for me! For me!

Even Taranee!

When they arrived I got hugged.

But not by Will.

It was someone I didn't expect to hug me.

It was Taranee.

Taranee was hugging me and even weirder she was crying!

Tears were rolling from her cheeks as they mixed with the drops of rain on her face.

"Irma." she sniffed, still hugging me.

"I-I'm sooo sorry.

I didn't know about the bond you and Will have! I'm really sorry.

It's just… When I first saw Will it felt like she's been my sister for ages…

But with you I felt another sort bond… also a sister bond but more a friend bond…

B-But then you ran away, before letting me apologize or tell you something about me!

I was so scared! I-I didn't dare to think of what could have happened!"

And Taranee again started to cry…

*She really is a crybaby.* I thought with a smile as I returned the hug.

"Taranee, I'm sorry too." I said.

"I should have known that you weren't trying to steal Will away from me!

I was stupid! Could you please forgive me?"

Taranee loosened our hug and looked at me with eyes full tears.

Then she nodded and we hugged again in happiness.

"I can't help but feeling loved. Everyone wants me." I heard Will say with a laugh.

"Oh you just wait! I'll give you something that has been loving you from the moment you met." I said with a smirk, loosening my hug with Taranee.

Will's eyes widened.

"No… Not that!" she said in fear.

"To late, missy!" I said as I jumped on her.

I started to tickle every available spot, which was now easier since she couldn't hide in her shell.

I kept her tickling for a while when she finally said:"I give up! I give up!"

I stopped with a big smile on my face.

"This proves that I'm the best!" I said with a grin.

I immediately knew that, that, was a mistake.

Will started to glare at me and then I felt a pair of hands tickling me… but it weren't Will's.

"O yeah?" Taranee said from behind.

"I bet that you can't handle this!" as she started to tickle me.

Will decided to help het and they started to tickle me.

It didn't took long for Peter to join in.

After a lot of laughing and tickling we finally stopped.

We were covered in mud and were really wet.

I grinned at Will as she smiled back. I then just hugged her.

"I've missed you." I said.

"I thought I would lose you."

Will hugged me tight as she said: "Irma… You should know that, that, isn't true. You are my first sister and no-one can replace you. Taranee has another place in my heart."

I smiled. Will always knew how to comfort me.

We released each other from our hug and saw Taranee smiling at us.

I suddenly had the urge to do a groups hug.

So I grabbed Peter and Taranee at their arms as I shouted: "Groups hug!"

We hugged each other and I finally felt that I had found a new family.

I finally felt home.

_Will's POV:_

Finally! We've finally found Irma!

I'm so glad that we've found her!

And even better, she has realized that she was doing stupid and now also sees Taranee as her sister, as she should.

The hugging made me feel like the first time I remembered hugging Irma.

It felt like we became a family.

Peter was the first one to withdraw from the hug as he said: "You know. This is nice and all but we really should head back. If we don't Momma will have a fit."

We laughed as we headed back.

The way back seemed a lot shorter now Irma was with us.

Taranee and Irma were laughing as if they were friends for a life-time and I saw Peter smiling.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked him as I walked up to him.

He looked at me and I saw joy in his brown eyes.

"Nothing… It's just, for as long as I remember, Taranee and I saw each other as brother and sister. It was just a week ago that Momma told us that she was a… humun or something like that.

Okay, I have to admit that I thought it was weird that Taranee didn't have any fur or had trouble climbing but I thought it was something from nature…

And well… Taranee was a little devastated when we heard the news.

She became solitaire and almost stopped eating.

But now, seeing you with her, makes her so happy! And I have to admit that I've already accepted you two as my younger sisters. Even though you're not really sisters." He said with a big smile.

I smiled back.

"Thanks Pete."

We arrived in the cave, still covered in mud and soaked.

Momma looked at us in joy and anger.

"There you are!" she exclaimed.

"I was getting worried! Now Irma, I don't want you to run away like that! It's too dangerous!" she added sternly.

Irma hung her head as she said: "I'm sorry ma'am."

Momma Bear's expression softened and said: "Well come in! You must be soaked! First thing you do is taking a bath, Momma's style! Taranee can you make another fire?

I think that you can use the warmth."

I saw Irma looking confused at Taranee but Taranee just nodded.

She took more twigs and grass and held her hands above it.

Suddenly the twigs started to catch fire. The warmth came over me and it felt great.

"How did you do that?" Irma asked astounded.

Taranee smiled as we sat around the warm fire.

"It happened once when I was angry at Peter." she said.

"It was in the forest and he was making fun of me.

I told him to stop but he didn't then I got angry and I wanted to throw a stick at him.

But when I took the stick in my hand I felt a strange sensation going through my hand and suddenly the stick was on fire! And even weirder… it didn't hurt!"

Irma was looking in disbelieve at Taranee.

*I don't think that Irma believes this.* I thought as I looked from Irma to Taranee.

"I know what you mean!" Irma exclaimed.

I looked in shock at Irma.

"Wh-What d-do you m-m-mean?" I stammered.

Irma gave me a look of regret and then said: "Well… it only happened thrice…"

My eyes only widened more.

"When?" I asked in disbelieve.

"I mean… I've never seen you make fire."

Irma shook her head.

"I can't make fire." she said.

"But I had the same sensation. The first time was when we learned to swim.

Remember? When you almost drowned and I saved you?

Well I felt a strange sensation when I desperately wished for you to come to the surface.

Then the water started to bubble and you came to the surface…

And the other times were… when those hyenas were attacking us… and it started to rain.

And just now… when I was angry at… well you know… and then it started to rain too."

I couldn't believe it! Irma was hiding this from me for all this time?

"Can't you stop the rain?" Taranee asked Irma.

Irma shook her head.

"No… for some reason it doesn't work… I only have that feeling sometimes…

And I don't know how to evoke it…"

Taranee laid her hand on Irma's and smiled.

"I'll help you." she said.

I felt uneasy… I never had a strange feeling or that something strange happened with me.

But they had. Maybe I'm not special.

I felt my uneasiness grow and suddenly a stroke of lightning lit up the sky.

_Taranee's POV:_

A stroke of lightning lit up the sky.

I never thought it was scary. I thought it was rather pretty.

Because of the lighting's light the cave had lit up and for a brief moment I couldn't see anyone. When the cave was only lit with the flames of my fire I noticed something.

"Where is Will?" I asked concerned.

Peter shrugged but Irma just sighed.

Then she stood up and walked over to Will's bed.

You could see a little hump shaking.

Irma leaned over to look at Will.

"Hey… It's okay." she whispered.

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

Momma and Dad were also looking a little concerned at Will.

"I-It sp-spoke again!" she said scared.

I saw Irma rolling her eyes and I was sure that Will hadn't seen it.

"What spoke, Will?" I asked gently.

Will looked at me in confusion and fright.

"The-The thunder! Haven't you heard it?"

I looked confused.

"The thunder?" I asked hoping that I understood her correctly.

She nodded at me vigorously.

I shook my head confused and saw that Peter, Momma and Dad were also looking confused.

Irma, on the other hand, just sighed.

"Will, relax. Tell me. What did the 'thunder' told you this time?" Irma said, emphasizing the word thunder in a scary and sarcastic tone.

"I-It t-told me t-to l-look inside…" Will stammered scared.

"Then I guess it means that you have to go to sleep." Irma said caring.

"C'mon, Mother would scold us for being up this late."

Will nodded sheepishly as she crawled on her bed and immediately fell asleep.

I saw that Irma was looking a little concerned at her before returning to the fire.

"She's always been scared for lightning and thunder.

She says that it tells her stuff like: 'Many will cross you path' or 'look inside and find the true you'…" Irma said shrugging.

"I guess she's sometimes a little cook-cook, you know." Irma said while twirling her finger around her ear.

I didn't know what to think. Is Will a loony?

But when I looked at her that thought seemed to disappear.

No, Will isn't loony. She was special. Just like us.

"You're a nice one, aren't you?" Momma's voice said suddenly.

"Telling your big sis to go to sleep while you're hanging around the fire.

Off to bed, all of you!" Momma said.

Peter and Irma were thinking of moaning but when Momma was looking at them fiercely and they went to bed.

I yawned as I crept into my bed.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day.

_**And that was chapter 3.**_

_**The next chapter(s) will cover more than one day.**_

_**So tell me, if you want, what you thought of this chapter.**_


	4. Events Unknown

_**I don't know if anyone cares but Taranee doesn't wear glasses. For two simple reasons.**_

_**1: Ever seen a bear or monkey wear glasses?**_

_**2: The gift of Xin Jing had fixed her eye sight a long time ago, around issue 27.**_

_**Now further with our story…**_

**Chapter 4 Events unknown.**

The following months came quickly. Will and Irma were totally adopted in the bear and monkey family. Taranee was really glad to know that she wasn't alone and Peter developed the same 'brother' feeling for Will and Irma as he had for Taranee.

The girls learned a lot from each other Will and Irma taught Taranee how to swim quickly, how to relax in stressing situations and also how to move swiftly on hands and feet.

The reason for this was that Taranee had seen Irma and Will running, sneaking, jumping and walking on all fours on a fair speed and she wanted to learn that because it could be handy. They also told her about the 'five' even though the two girls weren't completely sure about the story.

Taranee taught Will and Irma how to climb trees (though with some help of Peter), gave them tips on how to jump, walk, run and sneak while walking on two feet and how to wrestle. The latter was a thing that Irma was rather fond off because every time she saw her chance, Irma tackled Will or Taranee and then a heavy wrestling match followed.

Will nor Irma had ever had the freedom to do whatever they wanted because the turtles always kept a tight regime on the two girls. It was always the same thing. Waking up, finding food, learning, sleeping.

But at their new 'family' they had complete freedom. They could wake up at what time they wanted and only got a couple of lessons in a month, for the rest of the time they were running around, playing, teaching each other or just discovering the forest.

Irma and Will also got a meeting with the bath in Momma's style. Which meant, Momma licks you until you're clean. After the first time Will and Irma's skin was red from the rough tongue and Taranee had been laughing at them until it was her turn for a bath from Momma. Irma and Will then taught Taranee how to wash yourself in the water, something they had learned at the turtles and which they thought felt better than a rough tongue.

In the beginning Taranee showed superior strength in comparison to Will or Irma but that quickly changed. Irma and Will tried their best to take as much out of their free time as possible, why was a complete mystery to Taranee but everyone had noticed that the two girls became stronger while the time passed making it difficult for Taranee to win a wrestling match from Irma or Will.

Of course the girls changed too. All three of them seemed to have a dislike for long hair and quickly found a way to cut it. The first time they did it Momma thought she would have a heart attack and Peter couldn't do anything but laugh. But then again, wouldn't you laugh if you saw three girls around the age of 5 having haircuts which made them look like boys? But they quickly learned how to create haircuts and all had their own style. Will had a primitive looking bob-line, Irma let her hair grow a little longer than Will's but made sure it was shorter than shoulder height and Taranee found out how to make beads, her hair was short and a couple of braids were hanging next to her face.

Our story continues on a random day in the seventh month of their life. The girls were of a fair age of 7 and are rather energetic.

_Will's POV:_

*Of course… I wasn't expecting anything else. In a couple of moments Irma or Taranee will try to tackle me from the bushes.* I thought after hearing a noise in the bushes behind me.

I did as if I hadn't heard a thing. And soon I was proved to be right.

"AAARH!" I heard behind me.

I didn't turn around to see who was giving this feral scream. I simply sidestepped and stuck out my foot.

Irma shot past me and tripped over my foot, making her kiss the ground. I wasn't going to let this opportunity slip and jumped on her, trying to keep a hold on her arms while sitting on her back.

"Irma, this isn't fun anymore." I said in a sarcastic though bored tone.

I saw her trying to free herself from my grasp but stopped fidgeting when she heard me.

"I can't help it that you're such a party pooper." she scowled at me.

I wanted to reply fake shocked but Irma spoke up again.

"It's a good thing that I got some back-up this time!" she said with evil pleasure.

Before I could react someone tackled me from Irma and was now trying to grab my arms. I wasn't so stupid to fall for it and used my feet to push the new attacker off of me.

While the girl rolled of me I scowled at her.

"Taranee! I never thought you would steep this low." I said with fake anger.

Taranee stopped rolling and slowly stood up, looking at me with a grin.

"Everything's fair in love and war." she said as she and Irma jumped towards me.

All I can say is that we struggled and wrestled while having fun when I finally got pinned to the ground. It only took both Irma and Taranee to keep me down.

"No fair! Two against one! I didn't stand a chance." I said.

Irma looked at me with a smug grin on her face.

"You don't deserve a fair fight! You should have thought twice before eating our piece of the meat!"

"But I was hungry!" I moaned in defense.

"And do you think we weren't?" Taranee said while a growl escaped her stomach.

"There were enough berries for you." Irma said.

"But noooo. You just HAD to eat our piece of meat and now… Now you are going to pay!" she said with an evil pleasure.

I saw her evil grin and immediately knew what they were thinking of.

"No! Everything but that!" I screamed in panic but Irma and Taranee were just smiling as they started to tickle me.

I can't stand the feeling and of course started to laugh while an anger was building in me. I felt something else too but couldn't fully understand it. It was like a vibrating cell phone… Whatever a cell phone may be… or vibrating for that matter.

"Stop! Please stop!" I screamed between my laughs.

Of course the two continued tickling and I could feel my anger increase.

"Stop it!" I demanded.

"Stop it or I'll drown you!"

The girls didn't seem to know that I was being serious when suddenly that weird… feeling erupted. The sky clouded with dark clouds in a matter of seconds and a thunder roar was heard when a lightning bolt raced across the sky. I acted quick and even though Irma and Taranee were sitting on me, I crawled up like a ball throwing the two of them off of me.

I really hated lightning and thunder. I could remember the first time I saw it.

_Flashback_

"Irma, wait! I can't keep up!"

"Hurry Will! Those clouds aren't pretty!" Irma shouted desperately.

*I wonder why she's in such a haste?* I thought.

We ran as if our lives depended on it and we finally arrived at our home.

"What's the rush, my young ones?" Mother Turtle asked.

"Pant… pant. Clouds…Dark….Scary." Irma panted.

Mother smiled at us kindly as she looked to the sky.

"It seems that it is going to rain and thunder. Let us go to a safe place."

I followed Mother while asking myself what that 'thunder' was. Without thinking I tried to walk on my two feet. I often started to walk on my feet when I spaced off or at least… I tried. I walked a good three steps when I fell on my belly.

"That's what you get for walking like that, freak!" a boy's voice sneered.

I looked around and saw a turtle around my age. His shell was a dark green color and had a rough form. He was backed up by two others, who were slightly taller than him.

Irma had heard the guy and walked to him.

"Oh, shut your mouth Yuri! You can't swim as well as Will and you're just jealous of Will because she's better!"

The turtle, now indentified as Yuri, sneered.

"Humph! As if I want to be like freak show!

You are already weird but she has that freaky red hair."

I stood up and stood on my two feet and immediately Yuri and his pals backed away.

"Don't you dare to insult Irma!" I breezed at him in anger.

Yuri seemed scared for a moment. When he got his courage back he looked in an angry way at me.

"I can insult anyone who I want!" he said.

"And the two of you are freaks! You aren't green, you keep growing out of your shells, you have fur on you heads and can walk on your hind paws! My father says that you're wild beasts from somewhere else and that Mother took pity on you and took you in!"

Yuri smiled at his small victory when suddenly a crackling sound was heard. I was so angry that I didn't notice it.

Another crackling sound was heard and I saw Yuri, his mates and Irma looking up in confusing. I looked up, just in time to see a white flash across the sky.

*Wow. It's beautiful* I thought in awe.

"I hope it hits one of you, then we will be released from at least one of you freaks!" I heard Yuri sneer.

*THAT'S IT!* I thought in anger and I wanted to jump at him and hit him when it happened.

A lightning bolt came down and hit the ground in front of me. But, even though it hit the ground in front of me, I felt a shock going through my body. It hurt and felt nice at the same time.

When I recovered from what had happened I could hear another thunder roar. But this time I heard something more.

"Punish him. Your power will teach him!" an angry and heavy voice said.

I looked around in panic, not knowing where the voice came from. Another roar was heard and again I heard the voice talk.

*The thunder TALKS!* I realized in shock before another bolt of lightning came down.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw that the lightning bolt went straight for Yuri. I didn't think twice and pushed Yuri out of the way while I took the hit for myself. I heard a soft, rumbling "Sorry" before I passed out.

_End Flashback_

I shivered. It was a terrible feeling and I was afraid it would hit me again. But the worst of all was the talking the thunder did. When the thunder roared I could clearly hear it asking me if it should burn them. I was plainly scared. It felt like something that shouldn't belong to me. Too…Too powerful… I am just a girl… not special nor strong… But still… It also felt so familiar as if it once belonged to me and wanted to return.

I felt someone nudging me. I looked up and saw a concerned Irma and Taranee looking at me.

"Will it's okay." Irma said.

"Yeah we're with you." Taranee said with a nod.

I hugged Irma and started crying. Irma was a little startled at first but she then hugged me too. Slowly I stopped crying and the clouds seemed to disappear. The weird feeling was gone and I felt safe again.

_Taranee's POV:_

*Poor Will. This is the tenth time. I really wonder why she is so afraid of it.* I thought concerned.

*I mean… the thunder roar sounds so cool and the lightning is beautiful. Why is she so afraid of it? And… That voice she hears when it thunders. Is it real?*

I watched how Will was relaxing in Irma's grip. Her sobbing stopped and she let loose of Irma.

I couldn't stop my curiosity and asked: "Will? uhmm… I was just wondering.

What did the thunder say this time?"

Will looked at me with shocked eyes. I was the only one who 'seemed' to believe her about the talking thunder.

*Underline seemed. I'm still not sure but the things the lightning says are sometimes weird but other times it seems like it's reacting to Will's feelings.*

"I-It to-told… n-no it a-a-ASKED m-me if it sh-should burn y-you." Will said a little frightened.

I was… shocked! I mean the thunder often 'said' crazy things like attack or become one but it had never 'asked' something like this… It wanted to hurt us… But luckily Irma was skeptical.

"Burn us? Will, I think that our tickling has given you a concoction." Irma said.

_No-one's POV:_

The girls quickly forgot about the thunder 'accident'. Will apologized for stealing the last piece of meat and they all were playing happily. They didn't notice that, because of their wrestling and playing, they had wandered into some else's territory.

_Taranee's POV:_

*I'm still going to steal her last piece of meat next time I've got the chance.*

I looked at Will. She was swinging through the trees while Irma tried to catch her while I was sitting against a tree.

'Will! Stay still!' Irma growled.

Will stopped on a branch, turned around and stuck her tongue out at Irma.

'You're too slow, turtle pants!' she said with a smirk.

Only that smirk quickly faded when she saw Irma jungle - tackling her.

My eyes widened and I was sure that Irma was going to bump into Will. But then Will did something unsuspected. She jumped backwards and let herself fall from the branch while Irma flew right past her into the river which was streaming next to the tree. Will on the other hand acted quick and grabbed the branch. Irma came spluttering out of the water while Will heaved herself on the branch.

I, of course, was laughing.

'Shut it, Taranee!' Irma said to me while glaring at the same time.

Will joined me in the laughter but I stopped quickly when I realized something. There wasn't supposed to be a river this close to the den. I looked around. I couldn't recognize any of the trees that were standing around me.

"Guys… Where are we?" I asked.

Will stopped laughing and Irma stopped glaring and both looked around.

"I don't know." Irma said after a couple of times of turning around.

I didn't like this. I didn't like it at all.

"Maybe if we follow the river we'll end up at the lake, you know, the one we normally swim in." Will said while pointing at the water.

I nodded and prayed that we wouldn't cause any trouble.

_Irma's POV:_

*Okay. Note to self. Never wander away!*

I looked at Will. She hadn't said a thing since we started following the river. I turned around and saw Taranee looking a little timid around. But well, that's Taranee. We walked a good time, the sun was already setting, when we heard a noise. A not so friendly noise.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" a raspy voice said from the bushes.

We automatically huddled together, each of us looking to another place.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Will said. It sounded brave but I could feel her tremble next to me.

"I believe we asked you a question first." the voice said again.

"We?" I said but immediately after a pack of wolfs appeared from the bushes. Six if my counting was correct.

"W-We" Will started but then stopped. She inhaled deeply and started again.

"We're Will, Irma and Taranee. We live at the bears and we got lost." she said in a steady voice.

"Well, well, well. You're humans right?" a wolf snapped at us.

I looked at him and said in my coldest tone: "Yes. So if I were you I would be terrified! We could kick your ass into next moon!"

The wolf smirked.

"So, you can do that? It's a good thing that we aren't alone then."

I could feel my mouth dropping. A girl came out the bushes. It looked like she was around our age. She had light blue eyes and beautiful long blond hair. She was wearing the same fur as us but only in grey and it looked good on her. I looked at Will and Taranee and I could see that both of them were surprised.

"Who are you?" Will said.

The blonde looked at her as if she was a low life bug and said in a tone, that said 'I am better than you': "I am Cornelia Hale. But I've heard that you're… wait a minute. You look like me."

The last part she said in utter disbelieve.

"Wow! Well done Corny! It took you long enough to notice that! I wonder if that has anything to do with your brain!" I sneered. I didn't know why I did that or how I came at the nickname 'Corny' but there was something about her I couldn't describe. As if we were bound to bicker.

Cornelia glared at me after my comment.

"Don't you ever call me that again!" she hissed dangerously.

Of course, I wasn't going to stop.

"Oh. You don't like Corny? What about Horny? Or Dorny?" I said while seeing Cornelia looking angrier and angrier after every nickname I said.

_**NOTE: Irma doesn't know the meaning of horny. She thinks it means that you've got horns. So she isn't suggesting anything!**_

"Or Morny, Florny, Scorny, Gorny…" I rambled on when I saw a plant coming out of the ground right in front of me. The plant grew quick and if Will hadn't pushed me aside it would have swallowed me like a fly.

"Irma! SHUT UP!" Will breezed at me after the rescue.

I went silent. It was mostly because the shock that I was almost eaten by a plant and that Will had shouted. Will turned to Cornelia, giving the latter an icy glare.

"So… you can do things too?" Will asked casually.

Cornelia raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean with too?"

"Irma can do things with water and Taranee with fire. And it seems that you can do things with earth, am I right?" Will said.

Cornelia nodded before she asked something.

"What can you do?"

Will stared at her and I could hear her swallow.

"I… I can do things with thunder."

Cornelia's eyes were wide with surprise. But not as wide as mine or Taranee's. Will could do things with thunder? Why did she never tell us about it? But that would explain the talking thunder and lightning flashes every time Will got angry or annoyed.

Cornelia seemed to be over her surprise. Her icy glare returned and a smirk formed on her lips.

"Well whatever. I can see that you're the alpha of your group. Make sure that you keep her in check. She might get hurt next time."

*Okay, what's an alpha and did she just threatened me?* I thought.

Will simply smirked back.

"Oh no. She's simple fine. And if you're threatening us I would stop if I were you. We are not here for some stupid fight. Now if you wouldn't mind, we have to go back."

Will turned around and started walking away. Taranee and I quickly followed but Cornelia didn't think so. She blocked our path.

"Let's make a deal." she said.

"I challenge you to a fight." she pointed at Will.

"And if you win we will tell you were you need to go."

"And if I lose?" Will said while frowning.

"Then she will go with us and do everything I say." Cornelia said while pointing at me.

"Oh you are in over your head! Do you really think that…" I said.

"I agree." Will interrupted me.

I looked at Will as if she was crazy. But then I saw something in her eyes. She was radiating authority and power and I couldn't help but feeling at ease. Somewhere I knew that she would win. Cornelia smiled.

"Good. Follow me." she said and turned around.

The pack of wolves followed her and Will walked right behind her. Taranee and I closed the line as we followed them. Still shocked.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Haha! I knew that she wouldn't resist. She dares to have a big mouth in front of me. I'll show her!* I thought victorious.

*But I don't think I'm going to use my powers. I mean, if she wasn't lying, it wouldn't be a good thing to fight thunder.*

"Irma do you know what's wrong with Will?" I heard that Taranee girl whisper.

"No, but I trust her. She's never let me down and I don't think she will now. Besides I hope she kick miss Snob's ass into next moon!" that annoying brown haired girl said.

I grumbled. Ha! They think that their alpha could defeat me! As if. She doesn't look strong or quick. I'm not scared of her.

"Cornelia?" Will said while looking at me.

"Yes?" I said without looking at her.

"Did you know that there were others like you?" Will said.

I frowned. In reality I never knew. And it looked like she knew it for some time. I really hate it when someone knows something and I don't.

"Yes." I lied.

"Do you know the fifth?" Will asked.

"No. And now please shut up. We're almost there." I snapped.

While Will remained silent I was thinking.

*Fifth? What fifth? Are there more? Never mind. I ask that Irma girl when she's doing my chores.*

_Taranee's POV:_

"No. And now please shut up. We're almost there."

*That Cornelia isn't the friendliest person.* I thought.

I really hoped Will was going to win. I really wanted to go home and I don't want to lose Irma. But Cornelia seemed to be in control. She looked like someone with authority and power. She was scary…

While I was lost in my own train of thoughts we stopped. I nearly walked into a wolf. I looked around and saw a vast grass field surrounded by trees.

*I've never been here before*

The wolfs formed a circle near the trees and Cornelia stood in the middle of that circle.

"Well Will. I hope you're not too attached to your sister, 'cause you're going to lose her." she said with a confident smile.

Irma wanted to retort when Will held up her hand. Irma stayed quiet while looking puzzled at Will. Will took her place in the circle. In front of Cornelia. I really didn't want to look.

A wolf broke from the circle and said: "This will be a fight that doesn't stop until one of the parties is unable to fight or if one of them gives up. So start."

The wolf quickly ran back to his spot in the circle while Will and Cornelia started to circle.

The two kept circling for some time when it seemed that Cornelia was getting impatient. She jumped at Will trying to tackle her to the ground. Will dodged and let Cornelia trip. Then she jumped on Cornelia's back and pinned her to the ground. Cornelia tried her best to get free but it looked like Will was too strong for her.

"So… Ready to give up Cornelia?" Will asked.

It looked as if she wasn't having any difficulty in keeping Cornelia down.

"You wish." Cornelia grumbled.

Suddenly plants came out of nowhere and knocked Will of Cornelia. The plants then grabbed Will at her arms and legs, making it impossible for her to move. Cornelia smirked and kicked Will a couple of times in her stomach.

"Do you give up?" Cornelia said with a smirk.

Will just glared at Cornelia.

"If there is one thing I'll never do is giving up!" she spat.

I was terrified. It didn't look like Will was going to give up. She was willing to die for Irma!

"Will please give up!" I screamed when Cornelia kicked her again.

"Yes Will. Please. I can't bear it to see you getting hurt!" Irma said.

I felt hot tears rolling over my cheek and I saw that Irma was crying too. Why did she agreed on this? Now she's in danger.

"Yes, Will. Listen to them. Why would you even fight for them? They are big enough to fight for themselves don't you think?" Cornelia said with an victorious voice.

I suddenly noticed that it was growing dark. I looked up and saw that dark clouds were clouding the sky. I could hear a soft roar of thunder but it could have been my imagination.

"GIVE UP ALREADY!" Cornelia screamed angrily at Will while kicking her again.

A thunder roar was heard. Everyone looked up and saw a bolt of lightning lighting up the sky.

_**(Oh the puns :-))**_

_Will's POV:_

Everyone was looking at the sky. I knew it. Taranee could control fire, Irma water and I thunder. That would explain why I could understand it.

This was going too far. Cornelia had cheated. She used her powers to get me down. She hurt me and that didn't only hurt me but also Irma and Taranee. I'm their sister. I can't let them down!

I coughed what blood. This draw the attention back to me. I looked at Cornelia's eyes and… wait… did I just see a glimmer of worry in her eyes? Never mind.

"Cornelia." I said. "I'm not going to give up and you know why? Because I'm their sister. I will protect them!" I screamed.

I concentrated on the lightning high above me and then it happened. Lightning came down and hit me, burning the plants that kept me to the ground. The lightning didn't hurt me at all. It felt like an old friend coming back to me.

I stood up and saw a terrified Cornelia looking at me.

"H-How?" she stuttered.

She quickly recovered and started waving with her arms. A giant block of earth came out of the ground and she hurled it at me. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly my mind shut off and my instincts took over. I extended my arm and I felt the vibrating sensation again. It came from my heart and went all the way towards my hand. There it formed a bolt of lightning and then I sent it towards the block of earth.

It collided and there was a small explosion. When the smoke cleared I saw again a terrified Cornelia who again quickly recovered. But this time I knew what to do. I knew how to use my powers.

Cornelia tried to bind me again with some plants while at the same time she hurled a block of earth at me. The plants got me legs but when the block of earth came I ducked. It missed me and while I was at it I burned the plants that were holding my feet with my lightning. Before Cornelia could do anything else I ran towards her, kicked her in her stomach making her fall on the ground. I formed a bolt of lightning in my hand and, while keeping her at the ground with my foot, I pointed my attack at her. Her eyes widened with fear and somewhere I could feel that I couldn't do it even though I also felt great for making her fear me.

"I give up!" Cornelia said.

I let the lightning go towards the ground next to Cornelia's head while saying: "That means I win. Now where do we have to go to get home?"

Cornelia was getting up and looked at me with a mix of hate and fear. She pointed at an opening between some trees.

"Follow that path and you'll see your den." she said dryly before turning around and walking away.

The other wolves quickly followed.

"Come let's go home." I grumbled while walking towards the opening between the trees.

Irma and Taranee gave me frightened looks.

"Will?" Irma asked carefully.

"Yes?" I said.

"A-Are you… uhmm… I mean… since when did you know that you could control thunder?" Irma said.

"Since a couple of moments ago." I answered.

"A-And what d-did the thunder say t-this time?" Taranee asked a little frightened.

"It said: 'Finally. Reunited at last.' " I said shrugging it off.

They still looked a little scared of me. It kinda hurt to see them looking like that at me.

"Hey! Come on. I'm not different! Nothing has changed!" I said, trying to calm them down.

"Only that you can throw lightning at us if we don't behave." Irma joked.

I smiled.

"That's up to you. Now let's go home." I said while grabbing the two of them by their arms. Both of them didn't look scared at me and they just acted normal.

_Unknown's POV:_

I chuckled. This is going to be quite interesting.

_**And that was Chapter 4! I hope that everyone enjoyed it! **_

_**I thought that this would be a nice chapter to show Cornelia's and Will rivalry and Irma's and Cornelia's origins for fighting. But if there are people who think I showed Cornelia as a total bitch… well she was one before Will showed her! And for mister Unknown. Well let's say that everyone knows him.**_

_**I've also tried a different writing style. Tell me if you like this better or not!**_

_**Review if you like and again Happy holidays!**_


	5. Earth to Cornelia!

**Chapter 5 Earth to Cornelia!**

_Cornelia's POV:_

*I can't believe it!* I thought for the umpteenth time.

*How could she defeat me?*

I replayed the fight over. The fight I had with Will, almost a month ago. She had pinned me down so easily, while she didn't look strong nor quick.

"Cornelia! Come on, only ten more laps and then you can stop!" a raspy voice said behind me.

"Yes, Grandmother, ma'am!" I said back as I kept running.

*It's also her fault that my training intensified.* I growled.

After the 'oh so jolly' fight my group reported to Grandmother. She wasn't really happy with my actions but it looked like she really hated the fact that Will was better than me. Okay, I had to admit that I also didn't like it that Will defeated me. I mean, come on! I'm the fourth strongest of our pack and I got defeated by an outsider.

I also had to admit that it was kind of comforting to know that there are others like me. It was kind of depressing to think that I was the only human.

Again I thought back at the fight. I had to admit those girls had something familiar about them. The annoying blabbermouth. When I first saw her I felt a surge of dislike going through me. But at the same time a feeling of happiness. I just know that that girl is a joker and that that is going to annoy me.

The really shy one. If she hadn't open her mouth I wouldn't have noticed her. I think I kinda like her. She seemed nice and smart.

But then the last one… Will. I don't know what to think about her. She seemed shy and obedient but when I threatened Ms. annoying she flared up! That, next to the fact that she has some control over thunder makes her kinda scary. But… I don't know, I think I like her too…

*Stop that thinking girl! She is a threat for your position! You need to show her who's boss!* I thought as I sped up.

After my laps I was exhausted. I really couldn't and wouldn't move.

"Well done, Hale. Well done." Grandmother said as she walked up to me.

I looked at her. It was a little weird though. I mean, I was taller than she was and still I respected her.

"Thanks Grandmother, ma'am." I panted.

"You've grown a lot since that battle. Next time you'll be able to show them not to mess with you nor our family." Grandmother wolf said approvingly.

"Do you think that there will be a next time?" I asked, between my panting.

"Of course. Since those three will arrive tomorrow. Well, go wash yourself and eat something." Grandmother said as she walked away.

I looked confused at her. Tomorrow? Why would those three arrive tomorrow?

Then I remembered something that Grandmother and Mom and Dad said to me right after they told me I was a human instead of a wolf. They told me that I needed to go away after my 12 month. That I should seek another family.

Well, of course, after hearing this, I freaked! Come on! Why do I have to leave? It doesn't make any sense!

And you know what also doesn't make any sense? All the things I know about water and fire. It doesn't make sense! No-one taught me that. I was only learned the Path of Earth! But still I know about the other two too. For example, when I first saw Ms. annoying I immediately knew she was one of the Path of Water. Shy girl? Path of Fire. But Will, again being weird. She looked like someone from the Water Path but then she flared up like someone from the Fire Path. She is so terribly confusing! I hate it when I can't pinpoint someone.

*It doesn't matter. Tomorrow I'll show her and the other two that I'm better.* I thought when I finally had the power again to walk.

I walked towards the creek near our den.

*And what annoys me the most is that I only remember Will's name.* I thought by myself.

_Will's POV:_

*Cornelia… I know that you're nicer than you showed. I can feel it.* I thought as I reminisced about the fight.

We were preparing ourselves to go to the next family. Taranee wasn't really willing to go but Irma and I didn't have any troubles. We knew this would happen, but we still wanted to stay a little longer with the bears. Especially when we heard who our next family would be.

"Wolfs?" Irma exclaimed. "You've got to be joking! That's where miss 'I'm better than you' lives!"

Momma raised an eyebrow. "I don't care what you think Irma. We had promised each other that I would send you there and that's what I do."

Irma wanted to argue more. She wasn't planning on going down without a fight.

"Irma. Stop it. You know that Momma's right." I said rather sternly at Irma.

I received a rather nasty glare from her. "Well, aren't we being leader like today? What are you going to do? Thunder me?" she snapped at me.

That hurt. Irma and Taranee were acting differently after my fight with Cornelia. They started giving me more respect, I could eat their meat if I was still hungry and gave me the best spot in the sun. But other times Irma was being really unfriendly towards me. Saying that I just made myself leader because I was stronger than her. Taranee was quiet at times like these but I knew she thought the same.

"Maybe I should! When are you going to see that I'm not trying to be the leader! You guys have been acting like that ever since that stupid battle! I don't like it! I'm not better than you guys." I said angry as tears started to flow across my cheeks. "I never asked for it! Can I help it that Cornelia thought that I was the leader?"

I turned around and cried softly. I knew Irma well enough that she already knew this, but she is just too stubborn to accept it! As I didn't look at Irma and was trying to stop crying Taranee spoke up.

"Will… we're sorry. But when we saw you fighting, we got angry. We didn't want to see you hurt, but you only fought to get us back home. And when you revealed that you could control lightning we got a little scared. We're sorry that we did like that." she said. I could hear sobs coming from her too.

"A-And, Will. I'm sorry of what I said. It's only that, what Cornelia said kinda ticked me off. I felt like I wasn't good enough to be your sister, you know?" Irma said apologetically.

I turned around and saw some tears rolling over Irma's cheeks as she hugged herself. I ran towards her and hugged her.

"You're stupid you know that? How can you not be good enough to be my sister? We'll always be sisters. Always." I said as I hugged her tightly. I saw Taranee looking at us, not knowing what to do. I waved at her and motioned that she could get a hug too. She ran to us and joined our hug.

As we finally agreed to each other that we wouldn't think such a thing ever again Momma, Dad and Peter came walking towards us.

"I see that you're all packed." Momma said. I could hear a slight hint of a sob in her voice.

"Now you know what we've told you about the wolves. They want to test your strength so that they know in what order you have to be put in." Dad said a little worried.

"I don't think they will have any trouble. Mom, Dad. I'll go deliver them at the wolves." Peter said as he winked to us.

"Yes, you do that Peter. And you three, be careful!" Momma said as she hugged us one last time.

Dad ruffled our hair and we waved them goodbye. The journey through the forest wasn't as awkward as the first one was. Peter was a little depressed because he knew that he would have to say goodbye too but he tried not to show it to us. Irma and Taranee were joking around and Irma was now saying that they didn't need to be tested. If I could defeat Cornelia than they would too. We arrived at the same spot where the fight took place. Only this time there was no-one.

"Are we too early?" Irma asked, looking around.

"No. You are right on time." a raspy voice said.

We turned around and saw a little group of wolves standing at the rim of the forest.

_Taranee's POV:_

*O great. Here comes trouble* I thought as I saw the rather strict looking wolves looking at us.

"I see that Peter escorted you. We'll take it over from here." the wolf said.

"Okay girls. I'm afraid that this means goodbye." Peter said a little sad.

He hugged me first. "Take care of yourself, sis." he said.

He then hugged Will and Irma. He was making amends to go away.

I didn't want him to go. He was my big brother. I loved him.

"Peter, please don't go." I said as I ran up to him, hugging him.

"Taranee, you know that you need to go. I'll be thinking of you." he whispered in my ear.

He slowly made me lose my grip on him. I tried to keep a hold on him but he was stronger than me. He gave one hand of mine to Will and the other to Irma.

"Promise me that you'll look after her okay?" Peter said to them.

Irma smiled. "Of course we will." she said.

Peter waved and disappeared in the forest.

"Well, now that's over follow us. I don't want to hang around." the wolf said as he and the others turned around.

We quickly followed as I looked back one more time.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Okay, relax. They are coming here. Nothing to worry about.* I thought as I paced back and forth in my part of the den. I was forced to share it with those three so that made me a little angry.

"I just have to beat Will. That's all." I said, trying to calm myself.

Suddenly I heard someone snigger. I turned around but I saw no-one.

"Is there someone?" I asked with a steady voice.

"Hmmm. It sounds that you are rather tense." a creepy voice said.

I really didn't like it. I didn't know who said that and I didn't want to listen to it either.

"That's none of your business!" I shouted.

"Oh, but I thought you wanted some help to defeat that redhead?" the voice asked.

This kinda hurt me. I can defeat her myself! But do I want that? I don't want to hurt her. Even though she defeated me.

"I don't need any help!" I spat back, hoping that the voice would go away.

"Well, I think you do. You think you're strong enough to take her down. But you are years away. However, I can help you." the voice said mysteriously.

Okay, this got my attention. *I do want to defeat Will, but do I want to cheat?*

"You know, I can just leave…" the voice said.

"No! Please, explain. Why should I not be able to defeat Will myself?" I asked curiously.

"Because she can feel you." the voice answered.

Well that was a weird answer.

"Feel me? What do you mean?" I asked.

"That doesn't matter." the voice answered rather harsh. "What matters is, do you want to win?"

Without thinking I answered.

"Yes!" And I immediately regretted it.

"Consider it as done." the voice said with a laugh.

"Wait! What have you done?" I asked horrified.

But there was no answer. This made me feel even worse than before. I knew I had done something terrible.

"There here! There here!" I heard my little sister shout.

*Oh no. I can't fight Will. I just have to say it.* I thought as I walked outside to greet them.

_Will's POV:_

After a really boring walk we arrived at the wolf's den. But just before we came out of the forest I smelt something. It smelt really weird, it didn't stink but it also didn't smell nice.

"Do you smell that?" I asked Irma.

Irma put her nose in the air and started sniffing. "I don't smell anything weird." she said, looking a little worried at me.

I shrugged as some wolves came to greet us. Including a little, hyperactive wolf.

"You're here!" it said. "Maybe you're a little nicer than my big sis."

"Thank you Lisa, for ruining my reputation." a familiar voice came.

The wolves departed into two rows. (Think of Moses and the Red Sea) Someone came walking down the path that the wolves had created. Cornelia.

Cornelia looked at us and for a moment I thought I saw some worry in her eyes when she looked at me. But it faded quickly and was replaced with a little cold but friendly look.

"Welcome at your new home." she said friendly.

She didn't look like the Cornelia we met a month ago. She seemed nice and all. To be honest, I got scared of it.

"Thank you." I said with a kind smile, which she sort of returned.

"Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to call this home. Since we leave here over four months." Irma muttered, earning a glare from Cornelia.

*We're off to a good start.* I thought as I watched the two of them start a glare wars.

It quickly stopped as two wolves started to howl. It startled me and Taranee, Irma was looking confused. Cornelia on the other hand, was stepping to the side. I saw three wolves nearing us. I had a faint impression that one of them was the boss of the whole pack.

"Well, so you're finally here." the middle wolf said. It sounded female and old and her voice carried the same tone as Cornelia's. The 'I am better than you' tone.

I immediately felt that Irma wanted to say something rather 'unfriendly' so I said quickly: "Yes ma'am. If I may introduce ourselves. I am Will Vandom. This is Irma Lair and Taranee Cook."

The moment I said our names I saw Cornelia looking with a look of recognition. *Had she forgotten about us? Or just our names?*

The old wolf nodded her head solemnly but she also looked at me with some kind of dislike. "Pleasure to meet you. I am Alpha Grandmother, but you are allowed to call me Grandmother."

Again I could feel that Irma wanted to say something unpleasant and again I stopped her by nudging her ribs and giving her a look of 'Don't you dare!'. She immediately understood and kept her peace, while Taranee softly sniggered.

"And these are the Beta and Gamma of our pack." Grandmother continued. It didn't look like she noticed us. "Harold and Elisa."

The two other wolves nodded. The female looked a little strict but nicer than Grandmother. The male looked nice and calm.

"Now. I know that you three have lived with turtles (she said this with some dislike) and the bears and monkeys. I want you to know what you are going to get here." Grandmother said clearly.

I felt Irma sigh. This earned her a glare from Grandmother and a giggle from Lisa. And I was sure I saw Harold, Elisa and Cornelia crack a smile.

"No sighs, young lady!" Grandmother snarled. "Now, first we are giving you some new fur and we show you where your nest is. Then you'll fight so you can earn a place in our order."

"On which place is Cornelia standing?" Irma asked, totally tactless interrupting Grandmother.

This made Grandmother growl at her. "Now listen to me! You are not allowed to interrupt me when I'm speaking!" she snarled. I knew that Irma was getting herself into trouble before we even got some food.

"Yeah, yeah. But on which place is Cornelia?" Irma said, looking a little bored. She wasn't impressed at the teeth that Grandmother was showing her. I mean I wouldn't be either since we've seen bears doing the same. And believe me, bears are far scarier than wolves.

Irma's answer made a couple of wolves gasp. Cornelia was looking with a look of disbelieve at Irma. Harold and Elisa, on the other hand, thought it would be a good idea to take action.

"Cornelia is just below me." Elisa answered quickly. "She's Delta."

"So that makes you the fourth strongest, right?" Irma asked Cornelia.

Me and Taranee were trying to keep Irma silent with some hints but the girl didn't pay attention to it. Cornelia, who still a bit surprised at Irma's antics, just nodded.

"That means that we are so totally br…" Irma wanted to say with a smirk but quickly stopped as she noticed a now very angry looking Grandmother.

She quickly looked down, not making any eye contact, and mumbled 'sorry'. Grandmother growled a little before saying: "You and I are going to have a lot of fun in these four months."

This made Irma gulp and I saw that Cornelia was smiling. This could only mean that Irma had trouble, big time!

"Well as I was saying, before I got rudely interrupted." Again a glare towards Irma. "You will fight. Normally you should fight with the weakest, but since you're the same age as Cornelia you will fight three wolves of the same strength."

"Excuse me ma'am, but who are those wolves?" Taranee asked quite shyly.

Grandmother looked at Taranee and Taranee quickly looked down, showing respect to the old hag. I saw that she approved Taranee and flashed a friendly smile.

"Good question." Grandmother barked. "The wolves in question are Claudia, Brenda and Cornelia."

*Okay… Cornelia is a human not a wolf.* I thought. *I don't really think I like Grandmother.*

"But, ma'am. Cornelia is a human." I said respectfully. I may not like her but that doesn't mean I should not show some respect.

I knew she was looking at me and hearing from her tone she wasn't looking as friendly to me as she did to Taranee.

"I know that." she barked. "But here there are no humans. Only wolves."

I nodded. "Sorry I asked ma'am." I said apologetically.

It seemed that she relaxed a little. "Now, go and get changed. Cornelia will lead you to your nest and where your fur is. She will then lead you to the spot where you will be tested." Grandmother said, before she turned around and walked away, closely followed by Harold and Elisa.

I looked at Cornelia and saw that she was looking rather nervous. I thought it was because we were alone and she that she didn't want to start another fight with Irma. I made eye contact with her and gave her an encouraging nod. She gave me a grateful look back, or at least I think so, and she turned around and motioned us to follow her.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Great, only a couple of shadows (That means minutes in this realm) left before I downgrade myself.* I thought worryingly.

I noticed that Will was seeking eye contact and that she gave me an encouraging nod. I don't know why but it made me less nervous. It gave me a feeling that she wouldn't leave me. Weird isn't it?

I motioned them to follow me and they quietly followed me. I showed them to the part of the cave where I usually sleep.

"Why are there here four nests?" Irma asked curiously.

"It's because I sleep here too." I said.

Irma gave me a glare. Not that I expected anything else, considering our first meeting. "You sleep with us? Sure why not! But please, wake me before you strangle me with your plants." she sneered at me.

I wanted to give her the very thing she just asked for but Taranee interrupted.

"Irma! Stop that! You don't want to start all over, now do you?" she scolded.

This confused me. What did she mean with that?

I saw that Irma was lowering her head as she mumbled: "N-No."

Then Will stepped in. "Irma, you know as well as I and Taranee do that Cornelia is also a sister of us. I know I can trust her, can you?" she said a little serious while looking at Irma.

This quite surprised me. Sister? No, that couldn't… Okay, we may look a little alike but that doesn't mean… no… And how can she trust me? I mean I totally cheated during our fight and she still think I can be trusted? Oh great, this just increases my uneasiness.

"Cornelia?" I heard.

I snapped out of my train of thoughts as I looked at Irma. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I…have some difficulties with accepting others. Do you forgive me?" she asked very honest.

I had to admit, even though I've got a little dislike towards her, I liked it to hear her apologize. So I nodded. Irma smiled at me before she asked: "Now, where can we get those furs?"

I pointed towards their nests. "There, where else?"

They walked to their own nest and looked at their furs.

"It's grey." Taranee said a little disappointed.

"Yeah, well. What did you expect. Yellow?" Irma joked as she flashed a smile towards Will.

I just rolled my eyes. Then they started to undress themselves. Right under my eyes! I wanted to turn around, to give them some privacy.

"Cornelia what are you doing?" Irma asked.

"Uhmm…" I said. I didn't know what to say.

"You can look, I mean it's not that we have something that you don't have." Will said.

I sighed as I turned around. I saw the three undressing themselves without any shame. It seemed as if they had done that more often. I felt my cheeks going red. As soon as they were dressed I took them outside. Irma was skipping around like a deer and Will and Taranee were laughing about her stupid jumps. Right before we would arrive I turned around.

"Okay, I don't know how it was at the bears but here you have to behave." I said, making Irma stop hopping.

"What do you mean?" Irma said with a dislike in her voice.

"I mean that you don't look Grandmother nor Father or Mother in the eyes." I said before being interrupted by Irma. Seriously does the kid ever know when to shut up?

"Father or Mother? Who are they?" she asked.

I sighed. "Beta and Gamma, Harold and Elisa." I said, getting an 'Ooooooh' from Irma. "And I would also stop interrupting people when they are speaking, you'll get into big trouble if you keep that up. Also stop jumping and stuff like that. It isn't appreciated."

"So, basically you're saying stop with all the fun." Irma said grumpily.

I glared at her. And she glared back.

"Well, Cornelia. I think they are waiting for us." Taranee said, trying to stop the glaring.

I stopped looking at Irma and nodded. They followed me as I went to another open spot in the forest. There the wolves were waiting, already sitting in a circle with Claudia and Brenda. Oh, how I hated those two. They were always saying things that weren't true, just to hurt someone. And unfortunately me or Lisa were often the victims.

As we neared Grandmother started to speak: "Good, I see you are ready. We've already decided with who you are going to spar."

*Yeah right. With we you just mean I.* I thought. Don't take me wrong. I love Grandmother, but sometimes she is such a drag.

"Irma, you're sparring against Brenda, Taranee, you're sparring against Claudia. Will," *Oh no. Here it comes.* "You'll spar against Cornelia." Grandmother said.

As the other were nodding I cleared my throat.

"Uhm, Grandmother, may I say something, ma'am?" I asked.

Grandmother nodded. I cleared my throat again. *Man, I feel nervous.*

"Well, is there a possibility that I don't have to fight Will? I mean, can I not fight Irma or Taranee instead?"

Well this surprised Grandmother a little. Especially when you take in mind that I said that I wanted a rematch with Will. But before she could say a thing Irma opened that big hole of hers, which she calls a mouth.

"What's the problem Corny? Afraid that Will kicks your butt?" Irma asked with a sneer.

Grrr. Why is she using that stupid nickname? I thought I told her not to say it anymore.

"No! Of course I'm not afraid!" I snapped at Irma, giving her a victorious smirk.

"Well, then. It's settled. You'll be fighting Will." Grandmother said.

I could smack my head. Irma laid down the trap and I walked right into it! At least, if everything goes wrong, I can give some of the blame to Irma. I sighed as I nodded.

"Irma, you're first." Grandmother barked.

Me, Will and Taranee were taking our place in the circle as Irma walked into the circle. Although I didn't like her, I hoped she would win. Just to mock Brenda. When Irma and

Brenda had taken their position Father walked to the middle. "Now listen, this is just sparring. To determine who is stronger. This fight goes on until one collapses. From fatigue or pain. You do NOT try to kill the other. Only physical contact. You are not allowed to use water, fire, lightning or earth. Now, start."

He walked away and Irma and Brenda started to circle.

_Irma's POV:_

*Well, here goes nothing!* I thought as I started to circle.

I thought Brenda would stay quiet just like Cornelia was during her fight with Will. Wrong thought.

"So, another baldy to join our pack." Brenda started teasingly. "And they think you're as strong as me. Ha! As if."

I growled at her. I didn't need a smartass.

"Oh? Growling are we? Think she is old enough to do that. Blondie over there thinks that too." Brenda sneered at me.

I didn't like it how she called Cornelia. How dared she mock Cornelia? That's my job!

"You know, I heard that she is going to attack you and you're redheaded sister with those freaky plants of her, and maybe strangle blackie over there while you're watching." Brenda sneered at me.

"Shut up!" I growled. "Cornelia wouldn't do that! I may not know her but I just know she wouldn't do that!"

I didn't know why I thought that but somewhere it felt right.

"Oh, so you think that Blondie wouldn't do that? Maybe you're right. She's, after all, just a weak little pup. Just like you three losers." Brenda sneered.

*Okay, that was it! She dared to mock us? Now she is going to get it!* I thought as I gave a feral scream and rushed towards her. "Don't you dare insult us! I'm the only one who is allowed to insult Cornelia!"

I knew that she was trying to get me to attack first, and I knew it was stupid. But she had no right at all to talk filth about us. And with us I mean me, Taranee, Will and… Cornelia.

I tried to tackle her but she jumped aside. Well that was expected. She then tried to tackle me. I turned very gracefully out of the way. I then lunged my hand towards her flank. Brenda yelped as she got the hit.

I noticed that it was easier fighting a wolf than a monkey, bear or Will or Taranee. Maybe because she can't use her front paws but I wasn't complaining.

I dodged more of her tackles but she managed to bite me lightly in my leg. It hurt and standing on it hurt even more. I made her pay by kicking her in her stomach and tackling her down for a short time.

We were at it for some time now. I felt that I was getting exhausted and with my leg I didn't think I could last much longer. But it didn't look like Brenda had much more energy. Okay, her leg doesn't hurt since I didn't bite her but she had tried to tackle and attack me a lot more so she must be exhausted.

I decided to end this. I gathered all my energy I still had and ran towards her. She also started running at me. We jumped at the same time and…

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Ouch! That's got to hurt* I thought when I saw it happen.

Irma and Brenda both rushed to each other and jumped at the same moment. Their heads collided with each other and they both fell to the ground. Both were still awake but it didn't look like either of them could move. I guess they were exhausted.

*Irma is a weird one. She acts mostly according the Fire Path, being so lively and quickly angered. But then again, the Water Path also has those features. I thought that, when she attacked Brenda, her attacks would be filled with anger but they weren't. Irma might have been angry with Brenda but her body was calm. Just like a river.* I mused.

It was quiet as we waited for one of them to get up, but both stayed down.

"It's a draw!" Father said. "Irma has the same rank as Brenda, Claudia and Cornelia!"

The wolves howled as I saw Will and Taranee walk up to Irma to get her to the side, Claudia was doing the same for Brenda. I walked to Will and Taranee to help Irma, and to say her something.

"Irma, thanks." I said to her. I liked her more than first and was touched by what she had said to Brenda.

She gave me a weak smile and said: "Hey, have to protect my sister, right?"

I nodded as I took Irma over from Taranee. "Give her to me, you need your strength for Claudia."

Taranee flashed me a grateful smile and took her place in the middle of the circle. Me and Will dragged Irma to Taranee's previous spot. Will looked a little concerned at Irma but Irma flashed her a grin.

"Don't worry, Will. I'm okay, just a little tired." she said.

Will nodded and then turned her head to the new fight. I did the same and I saw that Claudia was using the same technique as Brenda used. Being really mean.

_Taranee's POV:_

"You're just a mug. Lowly and pathetic." Claudia sneered at me. "And you're sisters are the same."

I gave her a cold look of my own, showing no emotions. I wasn't going to let her anger me. Or at least, I wasn't planning on showing it. Because this girl knew how to get me on edge! Saying those things about me and my sisters! I have to admit that I really felt like setting her tongue on fire but I kept control. I just waited for her to come to me.

"What's wrong Blackie? Scared?" Claudia sneered.

*Relax Taranee.* I thought. *Just a little longer and she attacks.*

And I was proven to be right. Claudia tried to anger me with throwing some more nasty remarks at me but I ignored them. She growled at me and I saw her tensing her muscles. She jumped at me and I jumped out of the way. Finally I could let my anger go!

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Taranee is so calm. I have to admit, I thought she would cry after the first insults but it seems that she ignores them.* I thought with admiration. I could never do that.

Suddenly Claudia jumped towards Taranee. Taranee jumped out of the way and started punching at Claudia with a great fury.

*So she was angry!* I thought surprised. *She just didn't show it!*

This only strengthened my idea that Taranee was acting like the Fire Path. One time being innocent and nice. Another time being furious and angry. I really don't want her getting angry with me.

_Taranee's POV:_

Claudia growled at me as I stopped punching her.

"Brat!" she said. "I'll make you pay!"

I thought she would jump at me again but instead she ran passed me and tackled me at my back. I fell to the ground as she landed on top of me. I felt her hot breath in my neck.

"Not so big now, are we?" she whispered in my ear.

I knew what she was planning to do. She wanted to bite my ear! If she accomplished then it wouldn't matter who won this fight. She would have proven that she was better. I quickly turned over, knocking Claudia of me. I got up and tried to jump on her back but she rolled out of the way. She got up and growled at me. She then jumped at me. I let myself fall and used my hind paws to launch her over me. We got quickly up and resumed tackling each other.

I knew that, if we continued like this, we would end up just like Irma. I could try and bite her ear. The only problem is that if I did that then my ear would be close to her mouth and she could bite me. Unless I attacked from the back, but that was as good as impossible. If I weren't this tired I could have tried it, but now…no.

*I have to try it now.* I thought as I prepared myself. *It may be my only chance!*

I gave a feral scream as I rand forward. Claudia did the same and as we came close I could see that she was trying to do the same. I neared her head.

*Now just hope she doesn't bite my ear off.* I thought as I made an attempt to bite her ear.

I could feel her teeth nearing my ear and at the same moment I bit her, I felt a pain in my left ear. We both yelped and jumped away from each other. I was holding my hand against my painful ear. I didn't feel any blood and gave a sigh of relief. I didn't care what the outcome was so I just walked back to my spot. Just when I got to my spot I heard Father shout.

"Another draw! Taranee had earned the same spot as Irma!" I was glad that I made it and let myself fall on the ground in a sitting position. I looked at a grinning Irma.

"Knew you would make it." she said.

I smiled at her before I turned to Will and Cornelia. The two were looking at each other as if they were about to fight for the last piece of meat. Suddenly Will cracked a grin.

"I hope it's going to be as much fun as last time." and she walked to the middle of the circle.

Cornelia looked confused at me and Irma. I just shrugged as Irma said: "That's Will for you. She can't hold a grudge to no-one."

For some reason Cornelia looked a little dark but then turned around to take her place in the circle.

"Good luck." I said. "Both of you."

_Cornelia's POV: _

*Oh dear, what now? There is no stopping now. Well, I just fight and hope for the best. May the ancestors help me.* I thought with concern as I faced Will.

_Ancestors' POV:_

They were looking at a pool. They saw Cornelia taking her position in front of Will.

"Are we going to help her?" Mieko asked.

Xin Jing shook her head. "No, let's wait. We'll help if they are in terrible danger and not sooner."

The others nodded as they returned their attention back to the pool.

_Everyone's POV:_ _(Or mine. You choose)_

It was dead silent. Nobody dared to move. Nobody dared to make a sound. Everyone looked in anxiety at the two people who were standing in the middle.

Cornelia, with a concerned smile against Will, with a focused gaze.

Neither of them had moved since Father signaled them to begin. Both were waiting for the other to make a move. But their patience started to fail them. Both of them were getting annoyed. Both of them wanted to attack.

Finally Cornelia lost her patience. She moved swiftly towards Will and tried to kick Will against her legs. Will avoided the kick but stumbled back as Cornelia pushed her. Cornelia quickly followed her with a swift punch and hit Will full in her stomach. Will groaned at the impact but she quickly recovered. Cornelia again, tried to kick Will but his time Will caught Cornelia's foot, making her helpless.

Will looked malicious as she pulled Cornelia's leg, making Cornelia come to her. Cornelia tried to get her foot out of Will's grip but Will kept a firm grip on it. Slowly Cornelia neared Will and Cornelia saw Will's smirk growing bigger and bigger.

Will quickly ducked and used one of her legs to kick Cornelia's other leg. Cornelia fell on her back, her other leg still being held by Will.

Both Taranee and Irma were making a grimace as they saw what Will was planning to do. Will had used that technique quite often on them during wrestle sessions and they knew that Will had won the match. Or so they thought.

Now that Cornelia was laying on the ground she felt that Will was trying to push her leg in an uncomfortable position. She quickly used her other leg to kick Will in her face. This made the redhead fall back, releasing Cornelia's leg. As both of them got up Will was rubbing her jaw. She then looked at Cornelia, shocking her.

Will looked at her with a killer gaze and an even scarier smile. Cornelia had to admit, it was kinda scary. Will quickly ran to Cornelia, surprising the blonde, and started giving her a set of punches in her stomach. The same as Taranee had done to Claudia.

Cornelia recoiled from the attack and was a little dazed. She had noticed that Will's attacks were stronger than last time. Not much, but still. Will took the advantage of Cornelia's dazed state and kicked Cornelia in her stomach. This made the blonde fall on the ground. Cornelia knew that, if she didn't get up quickly, she would have lost. If Will pinned her down then there was no way of getting free.

She quickly rolled aside as Will tried to jump on her and got up. She was rubbing her stomach as it felt sore.

*Well, so much for being worried about her.* Cornelia thought. *It looks like that voice was joking.*

Both parties seemed quite sore. Both of them had gotten some hits in the stomach, Will felt a headache coming up and Cornelia still had trouble with using the leg that Will kicked. Both of them were looking with a rather wild look at the other and suddenly both of them screamed as they rushed towards each other.

"AAAARGH!" Cornelia cried as she lunged her fist forwards.

"YAAAARGH!" Will yelled as she lunged her fist forwards.

Both girls connected with each other, but not with their fists.

"Ouch! And I thought that my attack was painful!" Irma said as she saw that Cornelia's and Will's fists connected each other at the same time as their heads.

You could see a shiver going through both of them. They jumped from each other and it looked like they were about to faint. Both looked at each other and they both wore a smile.

"What do you think?" Cornelia said with a tired voice. "Fun enough?"

"Yeah." Will replied.

Again a silence ruled the open spot. As Cornelia and Will were having a stare down the others saw that they were weakening. Suddenly Will fell on her knees, making everyone think that Cornelia had won. But then Cornelia collapsed on the ground, knock-out. Will quickly followed Cornelia's example and passed out after her.

There were a lot of whispers. Who had won? Was it a draw?

Father cleared his throat. "Will is the winner! She has earned a spot above Cornelia, but it will not be much higher. She will still be under Elisa." and with this Taranee and Irma started cheering.

"Haha! I knew Will would make it!" Irma said with a confident smile.

Both of the girls walked to Cornelia and Will. Irma decided to take Cornelia back to the den as Taranee took Will. The other wolves followed them solemnly.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Ouch, my head. Ouch my stomach. What happened?* I thought as I slowly opened my eyes.

I saw two heads and I screamed because I wasn't expecting it. Irma and Taranee immediately made a hush sound, making clear that I should be quiet. Then I saw Irma watching me with a grin.

"How is it to stand lower than Will?" she asked in a low whisper, but I could hear that she liked the fact that Will had beaten me.

I slowly remembered everything and I turned my back to Irma. "Shut up." I muttered.

I heard Irma laugh softly so I turned around with a foul glare on my face.

"Can you tell me why we are whispering?" I asked rather harsh.

"Well, you may be awake but Will is still knock-out." Taranee said.

I looked around and saw Will sleeping peacefully on her nest next to mine. I slowly got up and wanted to walk to her but Irma and Taranee stopped me. Both with different reasons.

"Sorry, Corny. You're not allowed to get near Will." Irma said to me, again using that annoying nickname.

"Stop calling me Corny." I hissed. "And why not?"

"Because I know you want to take revenge." Irma said to me. She was obviously still not trusting me.

Taranee nudged her and said: "What she means is, that Will needs her rest and Grandmother had asked us to bring you to her when you woke up."

"Okay, go tell her that I'll come." I said.

"You know, we want to talk to you so we'll wait outside and bring you to her." Taranee said with a kind smile.

She then grabbed Irma's arm and pulled her outside the cave. Irma was struggling but Taranee glared at her, making her follow obediently.

I looked the two of them walk away and then turned my head to Will. She hadn't noticed the ruckus Irma had made and was still sleeping. I could see a bruise on her left cheek. It must have been the kick I gave her that caused it. As I looked at her I felt a little angry. She after all had beaten me. I knew she was stronger than me but we didn't differ much in strength. She just injured my pride, that's all.

But I was also glad that she was fine. I was really scared that that voice had done something to her.

*Why? Why am I worried about her?* I thought. *I just met her! How can I feel so at ease when I'm near her or the others? What's wrong with me?*

Will made a sound which made me scowl. "Just wait, I'll show you next time." I snarled at her, not knowing if she could hear me or not.

I turned around and walked out of the den. Where Irma and Taranee were waiting for me.

_Irma's POV:_

"There she comes! Were you waiting for another invitation or something?" I sneered at the blonde.

She looked at me as if I were no good.

*Well though luck, I'm on same level as you are!* I thought.

"Just let's go." she said as she turned towards Grandmother's sleeping spot.

"Now tell us, Cornelia. Why didn't you want to fight Will?" Taranee asked.

*Obvious. She was scared that Will would beat her. And she did!* I thought with a proud smile.

Cornelia looked away as she said: "Ugh, I wanted to spare her the embarrassing."

This made me snarl. "If I'm not wrong, Will defeated you."

Cornelia glared at me. "She was lucky. The sun shone in my eyes." she said.

This made me angry. "Will has defeated you fair and square!" I growled at her.

She arched her eyebrow and she stuck her tongue out. I replied with the same action. Taranee was just shaking her head.

"Cornelia. I hope you do not hate her." Taranee said to Cornelia. "She is really nice."

Cornelia looked at Taranee with a troubled face. I suddenly remembered what Will had said to me right after her fight with Cornelia. But I refused to tell her until she said that she would accept Will.

"I'll see. For now, she's my enemy." Cornelia replied.

I wanted to jump at Miss Rude but a raspy voice stopped me.

"Cornelia! You're awake! Now, I know you're still tired and all so just go and eat something and get back to nest! You know it, tomorrow out of bed at sunrise. And no later! You two, go to your nests! You'll need to get up at the same time!" Grandmother barked at us.

I moaned. Again a tight regime.

"And no moaning missy, or you can do gather missions for the rest of your time here." Grandmother growled at me.

Cornelia looked puzzled at us.

"Don't you have to eat?"

"Well, we've already eaten. See you later Cornelia." Taranee answered as she walked back to her nest.

I looked at Cornelia. "See you later, Corny." and walked away.

I could hear her breeze and I smiled with satisfaction. Taranee and I walked to our nests. I looked one last time at Will. She was sleeping but her face showed that she wasn't dreaming nice. I hoped it quickly ended. It's no fun if she isn't around.

I laid in my nest and stared at the looked up. I couldn't sleep just yet. I hear Taranee mumble and saw that she already had fallen asleep. I began to feel drowsy. I heard Cornelia entering and heard her walk towards Will. I looked at her and saw that she was looking with concern at Will.

*Weird. I thought she hated her…* I thought before my eyes fell tight.

_Will's POV:_

*What are all these flashes?* I thought.

I was in total darkness, but sometimes a flash came by and then I was standing somewhere. Another flash came and I saw that I ended up in weird place. I could see more living beings that looked like me, sitting on some grey things. I was holding a grey pole and as I looked outside I saw big, massive trees. But they didn't look normal. They had rectangular holed in them and were either red or grey. I also saw weird animals. Their legs were round, their body didn't have a head or belly and there was smoke coming out of their butt!

I wanted to walk, walk away from these strange things. But my body wouldn't move. Suddenly I recognized a voice.

"And who are you to talk, Will?" Cornelia asked me in a kind of snobbish way.

I didn't even remember that I said something.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Without you…" Cornelia began but quickly stopped.

I felt anger rise in me. I didn't know why.

"What? Go on!" I said angrily.

But Cornelia didn't want to continue. Words started to form in my mind as I spoke them.

"Without me, Taranee would still be with us, is that what you mean?" I said as I put some lost strands of hair behind my ear.

I was shocked at what I just said. I looked around and I saw Irma, Cornelia and a girl with almond shaped eyes and a little paler skin color than Irma or Cornelia, she also had two long black pigtails. Cornelia looked away awkwardly.

"I…I didn't say that." Cornelia said quickly, trying to wave it away.

But I knew she wanted to say it. It stung. How could I help it that Taranee is gone? I don't even know where she is! I felt terrible. I turned around and put my head against the strange girl.

"But you were thinking it." I said as I started sobbing into the girl's shoulder.

"Calm down, Will." she said. "We are all a little tense."

And poof. The flash disappeared again.

*What's happening?* I thought with fear. *Please let it stop. It hurts!*

But it didn't stop. Another flash came and again I disappeared in that weird and scary world. A world in which everyone was against me. Cornelia, Taranee that weird girl and even Irma.

_Cornelia's POV:_

It was still dark outside. I had slept rather peaceful. I had to admit that I was still a little sore but I felt good nonetheless. I quickly got up and cleaned my nest. I knew Grandmother was going to inspect them and I wasn't counting on doing anything hard today.

As I finished I saw that Taranee and Irma were still sleeping. I walked to Irma, who was the closest to me and started waking her up before I stopped myself.

*Why would I wake her up? It should be rather funny to see Grandmother scold her.* I thought as a smirk crept over my face.

But then my body started to move on own account. My hand placed itself on Irma's shoulder and the other on her other shoulder. I started shaking her until she started grumbling.

"Huh?" she grumbled as one eye opened lazily. "Cornelia? What are you doing? It's still dark."

"Wake up, slowpoke! You need to be up before the sun rises! Grandmother always comes to check us at sunrise exact! If you're still sleeping or if your nest isn't clean she'll give you something difficult to do." I explained annoyed as Irma quickly opened her eyes.

She glared at me and asked: "Why are you waking me then? Wouldn't it be fun to see me get into trouble?"

I huffed. "I don't know. It just happened!" I said rather loudly.

"Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to sleep." Taranee said sleepily.

Irma rolled her eyes as she turned to our sister and… Wait did I just call Taranee and Irma my sisters?

*What's wrong with me?* I thought as I walked to Will.

Irma had told Taranee what was going on and the two of them quickly cleaned their nests. I looked at Will. It may be dark but I could see her fidgeting in her sleep. As I wanted to touch her head to shake her awake but at the moment I touched her head I felt a shock going through my hand and I felt that her head was glowing.

"What are you doing Cornelia?" Irma asked, when she heard me yelp.

"It's Will… I wanted to wake her but when I touched her head I felt a shock and I felt that her head was hot!" I said with a certain concern in my voice.

*Why am I being concerned about her? She's the enemy!* I scolded myself.

I heard Taranee walking around and picking things up. Suddenly a fizzing noise was heard and Taranee held a couple of sticks in her hand that were on fire. I first looked a little surprised at her but then quickly returned my attention to Will as I heard her grumble something.

I was shocked to see her! She looked paler than yesterday and now some lightning thingies were running up and down her body. Her face was in pain.

"What's wrong with her?" Irma asked concerned. "Is this your doing?" she then said accusingly.

I shook my head, too shocked to answer. I didn't know what was going on.

*Or maybe that voice was right and helped you.* a small voice in my head said. *You can take your revenge when everyone's gone.*

I was startled by my own thoughts. Irma and Taranee hadn't noticed that I was having weird thoughts as they were focusing on Will.

Suddenly a noise came out of the entrance of our nest.

"What's going on in here?" a raspy voice asked.

I looked to the source and was blinded by the upcoming sun. There was a shadow blocking a part of the sun.

"Grandmother, ma'am, quick!" I said, sounding desperate. "There is something wrong with Will!"

_**End that was our chapter. Poor Cornelia, it seems that she is in a struggle with herself. I sure hope something like this won't happen to me. I also don't want to get into Will's position. **_

_**Well, you know the drill. I end this chapter and you guys (or girls) review.**_

_**If you have any ideas to make Cornelia more bitchy (if you want that) then please tell me.**_

_**I also tried to show that Cornelia's 'family' has an order system like an army. I hope it worked...**_


	6. Seeing the light

_**Note: I need to tell you that I'm using some scenes from the series in this chapter.**_

**Chapter 6 Seeing the light**

_Irma's POV:_

It was early in the morning. We were just awake when Cornelia panicked over Will. I don't know exactly what happened but I'm sure that she is somewhere responsible for Will's state. We were now standing outside, waiting for orders from Grandmother Wolf.

"Okay, listen up!" she barked. "Will is sick and we need medicine pronto! You are all divided in four groups. Group Alpha goes with me, Group Beta goes with Harold, Group Gamma goes with Elisa and Group Delta go with Taranee and Irma."

This got me a little confused. Okay, we were on the same spot as Cornelia but Cornelia had more experience with these things…so why us?

"Group Beta and Gamma, it is your task to find Abasat. I know that that monkey is hanging around here somewhere. Make sure you find him."

With that the two groups ran off in two different directions. I was even more confused by this. I thought that Abasat had died? Just as I wanted to tell Grandmother about this she continued.

"Group Delta, you go look for food, Bring as many berries and herbs back as you can find!" she barked.

The wolves were waiting for our command and Taranee pulled my arm. I wanted to resist but she said to me 'For Will.' and I obliged.

"Let's go." I said a little dryly. I was really wondering if Abasat was still alive.

We ran off in the southern direction because there were the most edible berries and herbs. As we ran away I noticed that Cornelia wasn't placed in any of the groups.

*I wonder what her task is.* I pondered as I and Taranee climbed the trees.

*And more importantly, how would they react if they heard that Abasat was death?*

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Okay, relax Cornelia. Get a grip on yourself girl!* I scolded at myself. *Everything is going to be fine. Will will get better…. Again! Why am I so concerned about her?*

"Cornelia!" Grandmother barked.

I straightened my back. "Yes, ma'am, yes!" I said.

"You stay here and watch over Will." she commanded.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because I trust you and because I say so!" Grandmother barked back. "Now, Group Alpha! Move out!"

I wanted to call after Grandmother but she and her group were already too far away to hear me. I grumbled to myself.

"Why do I have to look after _her_?"

I walked back to our nest and sat on my own nest. I looked at Will and saw that she still was fidgeting and turning, electrical thingies still running over her. It really looked painful and her face showed that.

There were a couple of thoughts running through my head. Like: I can kill her now and tell them she died because of her illness. Or: I wonder if she's going to be alright. I don't want to see her hurt.

My head was spinning. I'm so confused! What should I do? Kill her, or try to help her?

_Will's POV:_

"No! NO! Stop this please!" I begged.

I knew that no-one could hear me but I didn't want to see anymore of these flashes. They looked soo real, as if I had lived them. But that would be impossible. I mean, I was born here.

But those flashes they seemed so familiar. I am sure that I met that weird guy with long blond hair and pale blue eyes… What did Irma call him again? Phobos?

Another flash came and now I was walking with the other girls through some weird tunnel.

"Well, we are here now. What then?" Irma asked as she looked around.

"The Heart of Candracar lead us here, there must be a reason." I said.

*What, in the name of the ancestors, is the Heart of Candracar?* I thought shocked after I said those words.

I heard Cornelia huff in frustration. For some reason it annoyed me.

Suddenly Taranee broke the short silence.

"Listen, hey listen!" she urged.

I wanted to know what was happening but my head turned to my right hand. It was giving light!

"What now? We can't hear anything Taranee." I heard Cornelia say annoyed.

"It was the same voice! It's whispering the same voice as before…Phobos." Taranee said a little panicked.

As Cornelia tried to comfort Taranee…

*Comfort Taranee? Has she finally acknowledged that we're family?* I thought hopefully.

My mouth moved and words were coming out of it as I focused even more on my hand.

"Candracar's Heart always knows what to do." I said as a small ball popped out of my hand.

*What the? Okay, there didn't just pop a little ball out of my hand! And what's Candracar and that heart? And why do I find that little ball so comforting?* I thought in shock.

I was snapped out of my train of thoughts when Cornelia spoke with an annoyed tone.

"I don't like that attitude. I don't want to trust that thing too much."

I could feel the hostility she was showing towards me.

"Why not?" I asked.

"That thing may have helped us in the past but what if it stops working?" Cornelia asked.

"It won't!" I argued.

"And you're so sure because?" Cornelia asked sarcastically.

"Because." I said stubborn.

"Well, let me tell you this, little Will. I don't like you nor that thing in your hand. You're nothing but trouble and I'm not the only one thinking that. Irma and Taranee are at my side." Cornelia sneered as I backed away.

My surroundings changed. It was so dark and the only things I saw were Cornelia, Taranee and Irma. They were advancing and all of them were wearing an evil smirk.

"We never liked you." Taranee said evilly.

"You are such a whiner." Irma said.

"You don't belong with us." Cornelia said threateningly.

"No." I said softly as I started to cry. "This can't be true."

"Oh, but it is true." a voice in the dark said.

I didn't recognized it but I couldn't care less.

"They are now acting as if they are your family, your friends. But when the time comes that you've found the fifth they will abandon you." the voice said again.

"Leave me alone!" I cried.

"Don't you believe me?" the voice questioned. "Well let me show you some more."

But before another flash came I got angry with the voice.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as some electric things came off of me.

_Abasat's POV:_

I was just laying lazily in a tree. I was just done meditating and I was wondering how the five human cubs were doing. I remembered the Energy and Water cub. Those two are meant for greatness and so will the other three. But I was also concerned. That attack from around eight months ago.

*Why did Taylor return?* I thought. *And why did he want to kill the girls?*

Suddenly something snapped and I shot up. "No! It can't be… Him?" I said with shock.

I wasn't sure but if my predictions were correct then I had to go to the lions, as soon as possible!

I was readying myself for departure when I suddenly heard some noise down below. I looked down and saw a small pack of wolves underneath my tree. The pack was lead by Harold.

"Abasat?" he said. "I know you're here! Come out! We need your help!"

He sounded desperate. I quickly climbed out of my tree.

"Yes, Harold. What's the problem?" I asked concerned.

Harold showed a sign of happiness when he saw me. Then his face turned serious.

"It's Will, she's ill. Terribly ill. And it looks like His doing." he said.

So I was right. He is behind it. I nodded my head to Harold and quickly grabbed my things. The lions could wait, I first needed to heal Will.

"Let's go. Will could be in terrible danger." I said, getting a small nod from the wolves.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*What's happening?* I thought when Will suddenly started to thrash more and even more electric things came off of her.

"I see. The little princess is sleeping." a mean voice said behind me.

"And to think that that thing over there first was walking in a shell. How do we call it now? Wannabe wolf?" another, not so smart, voice said.

"Oeh oeh! What about pre-warmed food?" another voice said.

A fourth was laughing maniacally.

I turned around and found myself shaking. Standing at the entrance of the cave were standing three hyenas and one tiger.

"Wh-Who are you?" I stammered.

"I am Taylor and these are Simon, Scarlett and Smokey." the tiger said softly. "And we are here to congratulate you."

"Congratulate me?" I asked confused. "Why?"

"Well, you were planning to make an end to that girl right?" Simon said rather stupidly.

"Yeah, kill the brat. You hate her." Scarlett said with glee.

"I don't hate her!" I said loudly.

Taylor laughed softly. "Hehehe. You don't hate her? Not after she brought you an humiliating defeat. Twice?"

I started to doubt. "N-No." I stammered again.

"Come on, Cornelia. We know you want to. It's easy." Taylor urged. "My master has giving you the means, now you only have to finish it."

His master? He must mean the weird voice from earlier. I wanted to give in. Somewhere it felt good to kill her. I turned around and saw Will laying in her nest, squirming and moaning from the pain. I slowly advanced. I heard Taylor coming near me.

"Remember those defeats. How terrible you felt. Make her pay." he said softly.

I was now standing at Will's nest side. Taylor was so close to me that I could feel his breath in my neck.

"Do it." he whispered. "Get rid of her, before she completely overshadows you. Before she makes you suffer."

I felt that weird feeling coming up. The same feeling I get when I make plants grow or move rocks. My hands glowed faintly green and I pointed them at Will. Finally I would get rid of her. No-one would question me. Everyone would love me.

I wanted to fire the power, but I hesitated.

*Is this what I really want?* I thought. *Will never did something to me. She even seemed sincerely concerned about me. Should I really kill her, like a helpless deer?*

"Cornelia, she will ruin all the bonds you have." Taylor said, hushing my conscious.

I nodded and I prepared myself to silence Will once and for all.

*The voice was right.* I thought. *I will win.*

"Cornelia."

_Will's POV:_

"Stop it! It can't be true!" I screamed again.

The mysterious voice had shown me several things that would happen if I stayed with my sisters. He said that these things already happened in an other life. But that couldn't be true! It just couldn't!

I curled up into a ball and started crying again.

"Do you see the truth?" the voice asked.

I ignored him as I kept sobbing.

"I see you're in pain. I can help you." the voice then said nicely.

I slowly stopped sobbing.

"Why would you help me if you're the one showing me this?" I asked.

"Because I needed you to see this so that I can save you from an horrible fate." the voice said.

I looked up and looked around. There in the middle of the darkness was a man standing. His fur looked like mine only his hid his face and it was black. (Think of a sort cloak)

"What do you say, Will?" he asked as he reached out his hand. "Join me and make those 'sisters' of you suffer for what they were planning. Join me and I'll spare you from all the pain."

I don't know why but, what he said…it had to be true. I slowly walked to him. I looked up and I could see a smile on his face, the rest of it was still hidden underneath his fur.

I extended my hand to grab his but suddenly another flash came.

"No! I didn't want this to happen!" I heard the man curse.

_Ancestors' POV:_

They were looking at the pool while they were high-fiving each other.

"It's so much fun to spoil the bad guy's fun!" Natsuko said.

"Yep! Totally spacious!" Ayame said with a smile.

The other dragons looked at her.

"Spacious? You're listening to much to your heir, Ayame." Takako said while shaking her head.

"Shush you two. Let's continue watching." Xin Ying said as she and the other dragons returned their attention to the pool.

_Will's POV:_

I tumbled again through nothingness until I stood still. I found myself facing Cornelia. And we were again fighting.

*No more. I've had enough of it already. I get it! They hate me!* I thought sadly.

"I never want to talk to you again!" Cornelia shouted at me.

I felt my anger and yelled back: "Fine! I don't want to talk to you, either!"

Suddenly my surroundings started to change.

*That's weird. It never happened before.* I thought.

Again I was standing in front of Cornelia only this time, I felt different. I felt sad and stupid. I knew it was about that fight from earlier.

"Good, because I'm a jerk and… I love you so much!" Cornelia said to me with tears in her eyes.

I was touched. This meant that that man was wrong!

"I'm an even bigger jerk…(*What's a jerk anyway?*) and I love you too goddammit! (*What's goddammit?*)" I said, sobbing.

We ran at each other and hugged. I felt the love that Cornelia had. I knew she didn't hate me! I just knew it.

As my surroundings started to blacken out, as a sign that the flash had ended I murmured one single word.

"Cornelia."

_Cornelia's POV:_

"Cornelia."

Will said my name. She said it in an happy tone. I felt that she wouldn't hurt me. She wouldn't do a thing to me. She even trusted me even if we met so clumsily.

I found myself stopping my hands from firing of the power I had gathered. Why was I so stupid? So blind? I felt an anger rising in me as I heard Taylor asking me something.

"What's wrong Cornelia? Can't handle it?" he said softly and a little mean.

Ping! That was IT! He's going to get something he deserves! How dare he setting me up against my own sister? Yes. Will, Irma and Taranee are my sisters and I WILL protect them!

"Of course I can handle it." I replied.

I turned around and fired the power from my hands at Taylor. Unfortunately he dodged.

"What do you think you are doing?" he growled at me as the three hyena's in the back started growling.

"I'm making the right choice!" I growled back. "Now, leave this place!"

Taylor smirked. "Do you really believe that we're going to leave and stop our mission? You're only one little girl."

"Go away!" I breezed as I made my hands glow again.

Taylor laughed darkly.

"Kill her." he ordered.

_Taranee's POV:_

We were walking back to base. Irma and I were carrying many fruits while the wolves were carrying small bundles of herbs in their mouths. It took us some time to find enough but now we were returning.

I was glad we did. It didn't feel right to leave Will alone. She's hurt and ill. We need to be by her side. I just hoped that, that Abasat could help her.

I looked over at Irma. For some strange reason she seemed completely out of it. She hasn't joked ever since we left base and she barely responded to me or the other wolves.

"Irma? Irma, are you alright?" I asked.

Irma looked at me with a blank expression. It seemed as if she was looking through me and not at me.

"Huh?" she said absent-mindedly. "The weather is fine."

I looked a little confused at her before I tried again.

"I asked you if you were alright." I repeated.

"Oh! Well… I've been thinking." she said.

"About what?"

"Will. I wonder what's wrong with her." Irma said concerned.

"Yes, I want to know that too but we just have to wait. Let's return to camp and wait until Abasat arrives. I've heard that he's a fantastic healer." I said a little joyful.

At this Irma looked a little troubled.

"What's wrong?"

"Well… uhmm… about four months ago, the day before we went to you… Will and I met Abasat." Irma started uncomfortably.

My eyes widened.

"You've met him? How is he like?" I asked eager. Everyone knows that Abasat is a wise monkey and respected by everyone.

"Well, he is kind of confusing. He told us about the five human children. But that's not the problem." Irma said.

"Problem? What's the problem?" I asked confused.

"After we got the information that we were humans and not turtles, Will got a little upset." Irma said, looking down.

I can understand that. I mean I thought for four months that I was a monkey. I was kind of shocked when I heard I wasn't.

"She ran to Abasat." Irma continued. "And when I finally found her some other animals found us too."

"So what?" I asked, not understanding where Irma was going to.

"Those animals weren't like the ones you've encountered." Irma said, shaking her head. "These guys were mean. They attacked me and Will. They wanted to kill us."

"Kill you?" I asked as my face paled.

Irma nodded. "Yes. I think their names were… well I can only remember the tiger's name. The names of the hyena's I completely forgot."

"Tiger? Hyena's? Irma, you must be wrong. Those animals are exiled. They aren't allowed to come here." I said softly.

"Well they were there and they attacked us." Irma said forcefully.

"Okay, okay. Now what's the name of the tiger?" I said, trying to calm Irma.

"Taylor." she answered.

My face got even paler.

"T-Taylor?" I asked frightfully.

"Yes, so?" Irma asked.

I looked at her with a look of disbelieve.

"You don't know him?" I asked.

Irma shrugged making me sigh.

"He once tried to kill the lion family. You know, the ones in charge of this place."

Irma's eyes widened at the news.

"He had all the hyena's to back him up. They saw him as their leader. It is said that one person stopped him. He lived at the lions but he wasn't a lion himself. I don't know what he was but he was strong." I continued.

"When did this happen?" Irma asked interested.

"Uhm… I thought a year ago. But you have to ask Abasat for details. He was there." I said.

"If that's possible." Irma muttered.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Well, as I said, when I found Will, Taylor and three hyena's attacked us. Will and I knocked the hyena's down but then Taylor appeared. He wanted to jump at us but Abasat stopped him. He said that we had to leave. We didn't want to, but we ran away. And… I-I think he died." Irma said with some tears in her eyes.

I felt terrible. Abasat, death? No, that wasn't possible.

"Are… Are you sure?" I asked with a lump in my throat.

"N-No… but it's just impossible that he survived that." Irma said sadly.

I shook my head. I tried to look at it positively.

"Come on Irma. Maybe he got away. Let's return and see what happens, okay?" I said.

This brightened Irma's mood a little. I turned to the wolves and gave them the signal to pick up the pace. We needed to get back as soon as possible.

_Irma's POV:_

I was glad that Taranee said that to me. I felt a little better. Maybe he escaped. I ran as fast as I could and finally the base came in sight. There was only something weird about it. I smell danger… All my senses started giving off bad vibes.

"Taranee! Do you smell it too?" I asked.

Taranee nodded and the wolves too nodded. We dropped our stuff at the rim of our base and ran at full speed to our nest. But our path was crossed by hyena's. They were with more than we were.

"Move." A wolf said to them. "You aren't even allowed to be here!"

A hyena laughed. Brrr, I will never get used to that stupid laugh.

"Sorry, but the boss is inside and we got ordered not to let anyone interrupt." another hyena said.

"Too bad. Move or you'll get hurt." I said as I made my hands glow blue.

Thanks to Taranee's exercises I could fire blue blobs at things, or in this case, hyena's.

Taranee did the same as the wolves started to growl and bare their teeth. Some hyena's were slowly retreating.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*How long can I keep up?* I thought as I jumped out of the way from Simon… or was it Smokey?

They have been jumping at me for some shadows now and I was getting tired.

"Let us kill you, you stupid brat!" Scarlett snarled.

"No!" I yelled back as I made a rock fall on her head. She yelped and fell on the ground, temporarily knock-out.

"You little…" Taylor said angry.

He gave a roar and jumped at me. I was too tired to jump out off the way and he pinned me down.

"Hehehe. What to do know." he said maliciously. "Simon, Smokey! While I'm busy with her you kill the Energy cub!"

*Energy cub? Does he mean Will? What does that mean?* I thought confused before I snapped back to reality.

Taylor was grinning at me, cheer pleasure visible in his eyes.

"You will first see your 'sister' die." he said. "And then you'll follow."

"No!" I yelled panicked.

I tried to get out of Taylor's grip, but I was too tired to even make the plants move. I cried.

*I'm sorry, Will. I never wanted to hurt you. You're my sister and I love you.* I thought as my tears rolled of my cheek.

"YAAARRRGGHH!"

_Will's POV:_

After the little flash about Cornelia, I had three others. All showed the same. First I was in a big fight with them and then we made up. Only it wasn't only a fight with Cornelia. It were also fights with Taranee and Irma and also with that other girl… I don't know her but I kind of like her.

Now again I was standing in the darkness.

"Tell me. What did you see?" the man demanded.

When I heard his voice I felt an anger rise.

"You lied to me!" I bellowed. "You've made illusions (*yeah, I learned some new words thanks to those flashes*) to trick me!"

"And what makes you think that those things you've seen just now aren't lies?" he asked.

I was taken a little aback.

"Because it felt real." I said.

"Aha. And those other things didn't?" the man asked again. He sounded rather annoyed.

"That doesn't matter!" I yelled. "What matters is that you lied! You must be the one who made me suffer! I know I'm ill. You can't fool me. It's your fault!"

"Aren't we smart." the man said maliciously. "Well, if you're not willing to join me…"

"Never." I spat back.

"Then you will stay here. You see, as long as I'm here, you can't wake up. And I don't have any plans." he said with a smile.

"Go away!" I yelled at him.

He just laughed at me and I jumped at him. He dodged me and kicked me hard in my stomach. I fell on the ground, clutching my stomach. He put his foot on my back, making me stay on the ground.

"Now, you know, those sisters of you are all weak. You all are weak. I've never seen a bigger bunch of pathetic people than you guys." he sneered.

I felt my anger increase. First he tried to make me leave them and now he is insulting us. I felt the electricity course through my body. I released at the guy but he laughed.

"This is what I meant. You are too weak to even hurt me, let alone throw me out of your mind." he sneered.

"Let me go!" I grumbled.

"No. And let me tell you another thing. If those girls you call sisters really love you then why is no-one of them helping you?" he asked evilly.

I stopped resisting.

"This proves that I was right." the guy whispered.

I cried. I was trying not to listen to him. He was wrong. They really cared about me.

_I'm sorry, Will. I never wanted to hurt you. You're my sister and I love you._

That was Cornelia's voice! This certainly meant that he was wrong. I felt my anger rise. I've never felt this angry my whole life. I felt my power raising.

"You will never speak bad about them!" I shouted.

I released my power.

"YAAARRRGGHH!" I screamed as I released all of my power.

A bright flash of light came out of my body and I heard the man scream.

"NO!"

Then he disappeared. I was safe. I was tired and felt even worse than before but I was safe.

_Irma's POV:_

This battle was taking too long. We've been fighting the hyena's for some time now and we haven't gotten any further. Suddenly a roar was heard.

The hyena's, that were blocking our path, ran away in panic when they heard the roar. I looked around startled to see where the roar came from. I turned and saw Group Alpha and Group Beta returning and both were accompanied with two different animals. A Lion and…a monkey.

"Abasat?" I said confused as he got into hear-range.

He smiled at me. "We meet again. Although I hoped it would be under some more happier circumstances. Now let us go to Will. She is in great peril."

He saw my puzzled look and said: "All will be explained in due time."

For some reason I was terribly annoyed that he used that sentence.

We quickly led the way to our own nest. When we arrived we were kind of shocked. Cornelia was laying on the ground, trying get out of Taylor's grip, who was pinning her down and we saw two hyena's advance towards Will, The third one was slowly waking up. I saw that Taylor whispered something in Cornelia's ear and Cornelia stopped fidgeting. She tried to look at Will and… Was that a tear?

I was too shocked to move. But the others weren't. Just when Abasat wanted to draw attention on him a feral scream was heard.

From Will.

I saw that she was screaming in rage. I don't know what happened but she looked pissed. Suddenly a bright flash of light came off her and I couldn't see a thing. I heard some bodies hitting the ground but nothing more.

When the light finally subdued I could see again. I saw Will shaking uncontrollably, Cornelia laying on the ground with a surprised expression and the three hyena's plus Taylor laying on the ground, all with a confused expression on their faces.

"Argh. What happened?" one of the hyena's moaned.

"Don't know." the other said. "We almost killed her when she started screaming then a light appeared and then… 'poof' I lay here."

"Shut up you morons." Taylor barked. "Now we can kill them and don't fail me again."

"No, you will not." Grandmother said firmly.

The four of them turned their head towards our little group. Taylor's face grew dark as he saw that we easily outnumbered him, especially when Group Gamma came running towards us.

"Bah, so close." he muttered.

"Taylor! How dare you to show your face here." the lion demanded.

She had firm and raw voice. She had a darker color fur than most lions and looked also a little bigger than most females. She didn't look like someone you wanted to fight with.

"To bad, Sable. Maybe another time." Taylor said with a smug voice as he and his three puppies ran away.

"Follow them." Grandmother ordered Group Gamma. They immediately ran after them.

I quickly ran to Cornelia. I didn't know it was possible but I was afraid she was hurt.

"Cornelia!" I said. "What happened?"

Cornelia tried to get up and I helped her. When she finally was standing she groaned and I let her to her nest. There she sat down and started explaining. After crying a lot.

I comforted her as Taranee joined me. Taranee was first checking Will before coming to Cornelia.

"Cornelia, relax. Tell us what happened." I said again.

"I-It's all m-m-my fault!" she cried as she started to hug me, or should I say squeeze me.

Abasat was creating something from the herbs and berries we had gathered and looked at Cornelia with confusion.

"What do you mean, little one?" he asked gentle.

"I-It happened j-just be-before the other came." Cornelia started. "I wanted do defeat Will because of an earlier fight when suddenly a voice came out of nowhere."

"A voice?" the lion asked.

Cornelia nodded. "He asked me if he should help me defeat Will. I said I didn't want any help. That I didn't want to cheat. But h-he tricked me. He asked me if I wanted to win. I said yes and then he said, 'Consider it done.' I was so scared. I thought that he would do something to Will during our fight but nothing happened. I thought it was a joke but then Will got ill and Taylor said that his master did that. Then he…he…" she stopped and broke out into a crying fit again.

"He what? Tell us child. What did he do?" the lion urged.

"He told me to kill her." Cornelia said beaten.

I was quiet. So Cornelia wanted to kill Will? I felt an anger rising up and wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine but she continued.

"At first, I didn't want to. But he told me things and suddenly it seemed right to do it. I was already prepared to kill her when suddenly she said my name. I realized how stupid I was. I wanted to kill my own sister. (*Wait! Did she just declared Will as her sister?*) I got angry with him and I threw my power at him. He dodged and then order those hyena's to kill us. He pinned me down and then you guys came." Cornelia cried.

I didn't know what to do. Should I be angry with her or should I comfort her? I looked at her and saw her regret. I put my arms around her and hugged her. Taranee quickly followed my example.

"It's okay. You and Will are safe and that's what counts." I said.

"Little one. It is His way of working to make you feel like this. He tries to make you do all the dirty work and then have you regret it for your whole life." Abasat said reassuringly.

Cornelia nodded as she laid down on her nest. She quickly drifted into a sleep and I couldn't help but smile and feel proud of her. She, after all, tried to save Will. She is a sister of ours.

"So that should do it." Abasat said.

"What do you mean?" Taranee asked.

"I did everything I could, now the only thing Will has to do is getting better. If I'm not mistaken she will awake tomorrow." Abasat said.

The lion slowly got up and walked to Abasat.

"Abasat, you have no idea how grateful I am that you're here." the lion said.

"I know, Sable. I know." Abasat answered.

Sable now walked to Will. It's not that I didn't trust her or anything but I wasn't planning on letting anyone near Will except for Abasat, Cornelia and Taranee. So I crossed her path. And Taranee joined me.

"I'm sorry but Will isn't in the best state to accept guests." I said a little rude.

The lion laughed a little before jumping over us.

*Come on! That's just plain mean!* I growled in my mind.

I wanted to stop Sable from advancing further when Abasat took my and Taranee by our arms. I looked a little angry at him but he just shook his head. I turned my look back to Sable. She was already near Will.

*If she dares to eat her I will drown her!* I thought angry.

Sable slowly put a paw on Will's cheek and caressed it.

"My dear, all this trouble and you aren't even halfway. I wish I could protect you always, but I know I cannot. Promise me that you'll take good care of yourself until then." she said softly.

Will suddenly stirred and laid her hand on the paw.

"I will." she muttered.

Sable laughed a little.

"Why did He do this to you? I thought we had dealt with him long ago."

"Who is He?" I interrupted.

Sable looked at me with sadness. She and Abasat led us away from Will and Cornelia. Some wolves joined us as Grandmother was receiving a report from Group Gamma.

"Sit down. For I am going to tell you a story that left a black mark in our history and in our hearts." Sable said sadly. "Let me tell you the story about Him. About William."

_**DUN DUN DUN! Well, we are finally getting somewhere. A little side note though. This William is **__**NOT**__** I repeat **__**NOT**__** the same William as we all know and love, so in other words he is not Will's **__**little**__** brother. I underlined little because… well I explain next chapter.**_

_**Any questions? Go ahead and ask. I decide if I'll answer or not. XD**_

_**And don't forget to review! You know, that little sentence beneath these notes. It's blue. You can't miss it.**_

_**Until next time! TTigerz, signing out.**_


	7. Chosen, or not?

_**A/N: Animals age differently than humans in this realm. Humans age one year per month but animals age as they do here on Earth. And remember a year in this realm is 20 months so for a human 20 years. But humans age till the age of 16 then they stop ageing. Unless you're a bad person of course XD.**_

**Chapter 7 Chosen, or not?**

_Everyone's POV:_

We were sitting in a little circle. It was just a couple of seconds ago that Sable said she would start explaining. An silence reigned around our group. The younger wolves we're looking hopefully at Abasat and Sable while the older ones looked sad. Abasat and Sable had a look of pain in their eyes.

"You aren't the first humans to walk in this realm." Abasat said sadly.

There was a surprised reaction. This meant there were more than just Irma, Cornelia, Will, Taranee and the fifth one!

"What do you mean?" Irma exclaimed.

"Let me explain." Sable said.

"It happened one year ago." Sable started. "I was younger and recently allowed to be a huntress for our pride. That's a great honor."

Taranee gave a small nod from understanding.

"We were just returning from a fantastic hunt. We caught enough for a whole month when we suddenly heard some noise. It sounded like the crying noise baby monkeys make. Now we would never attack monkeys or anything but we went to check it out. And in the bushes there was a baby. He was crying his lungs out. I felt my mother instinct in me and took him with me even though some of the other lions protested.

When we arrived at our home, I brought the now sleeping baby to my parents. They were the ones in charge before I and my husband took over." Sable said, with a certain dislike in the word husband.

"I asked them if I could raise the little human. They first were reluctant but I reminded them of an ancient prophecy. The prophecy told us that five humans would come to our realm, they would grow up with different animal families and that they would clean these lands from an unsuspected threat.

They were still reluctant but they gave in." Sable said before getting interrupted by Irma.

"Sorry, but why were they reluctant? I mean that guy could be one of them, right?" she asked confused.

"Because, Irma. These children are supposed to follow the Paths of their element. These children have a limited control over their elements." Abasat explained patiently.

"You mean like us?" Irma asked then getting surprised looks from Abasat and Sable.

"What do you mean?" Abasat urged.

"Well… I can sorta do things with water, Tara with fire, Cornelia with earth and Will can do freaky things with lightning." Irma explained, not knowing why the two adult animals were so intrigued by this.

"Is that so?" Abasat said softly.

Irma and Taranee nodded.

The two adult animals were giving each other alarming glances and I felt a little bit uncomfortable. It was quiet until Lisa started moaning.

"Can you please continue, ma'am?" she asked politely.

Sable looked a little confused at her before nodding.

"Very well. As I said, they gave in. I named the little boy William and raised him like my own son. My husband Talan (again despise was clear in her voice) and I were extremely proud of him.

As all of our pride, he started training at a young age. We noticed that he grew faster than us lions but we couldn't care less. He showed great potential and during his sixth month with us he showed us that he could use lightning. Me and my husband (again. Ugh I'm not going to repeat this every time.) were certain of it that he was one of the five children. And he thought this as well. This was maybe our biggest mistake." Sable said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Taranee asked a little shaken.

"The prophecy never told us how many humans were coming so we always presumed that there would only be five. The water cub would go to the turtles, the fire cub to the monkeys and bears, the earth cub to the wolves, the air cub to the owls and the energy cub to us, the lions." Sable explained. "So we trained William to make use of his full potential. And believe me that that training was hard, especially since he had to figure the most things on his own."

This made Taranee look a little confused.

*If I was that fire cub she spoke of then it means that either Will or Irma was the water cub.* she thought.

"That isn't true!" Irma exclaimed. "Will and I grew up together at the turtles!"

Abasat nodded.

"You're correct. But this is only because we wanted you to learn a bit of all the Paths. You see you together with the other three have a special connection with Will." he explained. "And that connection ensures that everything Will learns you learn, even though you have to be reminded of this. You have noticed that Taranee quickly learned how to swim even though she never swam before, or how you and Will quickly learned how to climb trees. This is thanks to that connection."

"Other three?" Taranee asked. "But, if you don't count Will, then we are with three people and not with four, like you said."

"That's because you haven't met the air cub. You'll see her in due time." Abasat said warmly. "Sable, please continue. And this time, no interruptions."

Sable nodded. "As I said he trained terribly hard. I and Talan bullied him to become better, and he bullied himself too.

Then, Taylor attacked. Taylor once lived with us but he disagreed about hunting in groups. He tried to kill my parents but failed. He was exiled out of our pride. He turned dark and came back for revenge, this time being backed up by a giant pack of hyena's. By that time William had turned 16 months. He was strongly built and wanted to fight for our pride.

It was a heavy battle and quite a lot from our pride had died. The hyena's had lost many of their comrades too. I was fighting a big group of hyena's when Abasat appeared. He knocked them out and I quickly went to William. I needed to check if he was still alive.

When I found him he was fighting Taylor. Both of them were fighting on the rock of our home. _**( A/N: Sorry for the Lion King reference but I don't know any other impressing place for lions to reside.)**_ I ran to them and I saw Taylor shaking under William's gaze.

"You should never have tried to attack this place, Taylor." William said to Taylor threateningly. "You know I would protect it."

Taylor looked a little frightened by William but he then smiled.

"You know, William. You are not better than me. We both want to protect this family. I from its mistakes and you from any threats." Taylor said to William, greatly confusing me.

Taylor then turned around and jumped from the rock. He rounded up all the hyena's and ran away.

"I'll see you next time!" he shouted back at us.

We were all happy that it was over. We thought that Taylor was beaten and that we didn't have any threats. A month later we got William tested." Sable said.

Taranee wanted to ask what she meant with tested but she didn't want to interrupt. Fortunately Abasat saw her and quickly explained.

"If we think that you truly are the five of the legend you'll get tested by me. I'll test you during your 17th month. The test is rather simple. You just sit still while I concentrate and look into your heart." Abasat said with a warm tone.

"I did this too with William. I too thought that he was one of the five but he wasn't. To be one of the five you need to be pure of heart and William wasn't. His heart was full with malice. It was clear he didn't know of this. I also saw that he was power hungry. I looked at him. He had a hopeful look in his eyes. He was certain that I would say that he was one of them and that all animals would start worshipping him. But I said to him that he wasn't the one. That his heart was too polluted to be one of the five." Abasat said with a look of sadness on his face.

"When I heard this, I was greatly surprised. I was terribly sad that William wasn't one of the five and I was scared of the fact that Abasat said that William had darkness in his heart." Sable said with a heavy voice. "And when my parents heard of this they decided that it would be better to exile William. I tried to make them reconsider but when I saw William's look when he heard the news I saw the darkness in him too. So, even if my mother instinct told me otherwise, my heart told me it would be for the best to turn my back to William.

There were, of course, lions who thought otherwise. They thought that Abasat was wrong for claiming that William was evil and that my parents were wrong for exiling him. So they sided with William. One of those lions was Talan… They left our pride and joined William.

I was devastated for a while but I quickly got over it. This meant that there would come another child and that I could undo my wrongs by raising this child without the knowledge of the legend until the time was there. That's why Will never came to my family. I wanted her to learn about everything except the legend and I knew the other families would agree. I didn't want to give her false hope too.

But, exactly a month before you came, Taylor attacked again. Only this time he had the rouge lions with him… and William." Sable said aggrieved.

Many gasped. They never expected that he would join that mean tiger.

"It seemed that William had a certain control over Taylor and the other animals. Again a war broke out only this time we were aided by the other families. The bears, owls and wolves fought with us as the turtles and monkeys healed the wounded. We almost lost all of our comrades. William even killed my parents.

At the end of the battle we got him cornered. Most of hyena's were cornered as well and Taylor was temporarily knock-out. To make this onslaught stop Abasat decided to use the ancient magic of these lands to exile William. He only needed time to do this so I engaged a battle with William. I was nearly dead as I tried to evade his lightning attacks. He and I fought for some while when finally Abasat was ready with his ritual. He directed the powerful magic to William, trying to make him and his allies disappear.

But as his allies vanished William remained. His magic was too strong for the ancient power to be sent away. He weakened magnificently as he tried to stay in our lands. We, ourselves were too tired to try anything and we had to watch how Abasat used all his might to exile William. As the ancient magic resided William was still standing. He was panting and looked terrible, but he was still standing.

We thought that it was all over. William gave a maniacal laughter as he turned to me.

"Now, no-one can save you or this world." he said to me with glee.

I asked him why he did this. His face grew dark as he looked at me in anger.

"After that old deluded old monkey told you and the others that I had darkness in my heart you left me!" he barked. "You've raised me to be the greatest! To be the most powerful of all five! And when that monkey said different you just threw me aside as trash! Maybe I'm not one of the five. But I am certainly the greatest of all!"

He wanted to strike. He wanted to kill me, but at that moment a great light appeared. As the lights dimmed the five dragons, the ancestors were standing in front of William." Sable explained.

Well if she hadn't had any attention before she sure had now. At the mentioning of her near death and the appearance of the ancestors everyone became quiet.

*The ancestors?* Irma thought. *Did they really appear? I wonder how they look like.*

"The pink dragon looked fiercely in William's eyes.

"You think you don't have an equal." she boomed. "But you underestimate the power of the chosen five."

"You will be exiled till the moment the five arrived and are tested." the red dragon said to him.

"Then you have the chance to return and see if you are truly the greatest of all." the pearl dragon said.

"But beware, young human. Because these five will have something you don't posses." the black dragon said.

William looked with a crazy smile on his face to the dragons.

"And what is this power, may I ask?"

"It's no power any human can understand, yet almost everyone of them is born with it." the golden dragon said.

"It's the power of loyalty, friendship and love." the pink dragon said.

This made William scowl.

"Loyalty? Friendship? Give me a break! Those are worthless feelings." he sneered.

The dragons shook their head.

"And this is why you are unworthy. Now young human, vanish and await your trail!" the pink dragon roared.

"You will fight the one you never thought you would. You will fight your own sister!"

William face paled as I tried to figure out who William's sister may be. And while we looked William disappeared. The dragons then turned to me.

"Listen well, head of the lion pride." the pink dragon said.

"The chosen five will appear on the same moment. You have a choice of what you want to do with your cub. Either let it learn all of the Paths or just the Path of Energy. The choice is yours."

Then they all disappeared." Sable finished.

It was deadly quiet. No-one dared to speak. Everyone looked at Sable, waiting for more but she kept quiet.

"Uhm…" Irma began. "How did this William guy looked like?"

_Taranee's POV:_

Sable gave her a sad look. "He looked a lot like Will. He shared the same stunning hair color, he was just as skinny as Will at this age, but his eye color was snake green."

I gasped. "Do you think that Will is his sister?" I asked.

But before Sable or Abasat could answer me Irma did.

"Well maybe… I mean Will is our sister so it may be possible that we could be his sister too." Irma said knowingly.

I nodded at this statement. It sounded reasonable. The wolves all stood up and walked away. Lisa went to our nest, probably checking up on Cornelia and Will. Irma and I were still sitting next to Sable and Abasat. Sable seemed to be lost in thoughts and Abasat was discussing something with Irma.

"Mister Abasat!" a voice called. "Mister Abasat they are awake! Cornelia is already standing!"

Abasat, Sable, Irma and I looked around and saw Lisa running towards us. At a small distance she was followed by a slow walking Cornelia and a very unstable looking Will. It seemed that Cornelia was supporting Will.

We quickly got up and I heard Abasat growl something like impossible. We ran towards Will and Cornelia. Sable was the first one to arrive and she quickly started panicking.

"Will!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing out of your nest? Get back there, right now!"

"Wh-Who are you?" Will asked dazed.

Sable had a hurt look in her eyes but she quickly recovered.

"This is Sable, Will." I said softly as I too went to support her.

"Wait… You are the head of the lion family." Cornelia said slowly as she finally recognized her.

Sable nodded as kept looking at Will with big concern. She looked like a real mother… or at least I think that's the way a mother looks at her child.

"Will!" Abasat suddenly roared. "What are you doing here? You should be sleeping!"

Will's legs started to tremble. More from exhaustion than fear.

"I-I n-needed t-to s-s-sp-speak with you." She said shivering.

Abasat took her in his arms and took her back to our nest. We quietly followed.

"That could have wait till tomorrow." he said sternly.

*Wow, never thought that Abasat would act like this.* I thought surprised.

He laid Will back in her nest. Irma took one of our old furs and lay it on top of her, to keep her warm. Cornelia, I and later Irma went to sit on the end of her nest.

"No, please." Will stammered. "Please listen."

Abasat sighed. He looked with concern at Will. Sable quickly went to the other side of Will's nest and too looked concerned.

"What is it honey?" Sable asked.

*Honey?* I thought confused. *Why does she call Will like that? And why are they acting this weird?*

Will looked a little confused at Sable before she started speaking.

"Be-Before I fell as-asleep I sm-smelled some-something we-weird. A-and wh-when I was sleeping." she started. "I had this dream… I don't remember much of it. I only remember a lot of darkness, flashes between it… I think I saw something during these. And… I remember a voice. A man."

"A man? What did he look like?" Abasat asked confused.

"I… I don't know." Will said slowly. "I only remember him with a yellowish, brownish fur which covered most of his body and face."

Sable looked alarmed. "What did he tell you?" she asked urgently.

"He told me that… that…" Will said hesitantly.

"He told you what Will?" Irma asked impatient.

"He told me that you guys hate me. That you want to get rid of me as soon as we found the fifth. That you never liked me at all." Will said as she started crying.

She curled into a ball and continued crying. We all looked at each other. I was shocked! To say at least. How could that man make Will think like that? And from the look of the others they thought the same. Cornelia was also showing embarrassment but that was understandable. After all, she, ones had those feelings.

Abasat and Sable tried to comfort her but it didn't seem to work. I slowly got up and went to Will. The others followed. I laid my hand on Will's shoulder. She stopped crying once I touched her. Cornelia laid her hand on Will's head and Irma pulled Will out of her curled state.

We now looked at her firmly. Even though Will was still weak and exhausted she showed fear.

"Now you are going to listen to me, and you will remember this!" Irma stated.

Will looked with big eyes at Irma.

"Now, we may have some little fights in the past. (Irma's eyes went to Cornelia.) but we always love you!" she said.

"And even though I just met you, I can feel a weird bond between us. You are my sister. I can't do a thing about it. Now I will, of course, fight you but that's because we need to get even." Cornelia added with a smile.

"You've got a place in our hearts and if you hadn't figured it out we will always love you!" I stated.

Will looked at each of us and started crying again. Irma grabbed Will at her shoulders and shook her.

"Hello! Will! No time for crying! You'll dehydrate if you keep going on! Or we'll end up swimming." Irma joked, trying to make Will laugh.

Cornelia's face paled.

"Swimming?" she questioned. "Please Will stop! I can't swim!"

This made me and Irma look in confusion at Cornelia while Will stopped crying and even cracked a smile.

Cornelia looked embarrassed and Irma started to smile. The nasty kind.

"Irma, don't start teasing." I whispered to Irma. "She and Will are still tired."

Irma smiled at me. "I don't know what you're talking about. And relax, I will not do anything, today…"

"Now, you see Will? They would never leave you." Sable said soothingly.

Will wiped away her tears and nodded. Sable gently pushed her on her back.

"Now, you go back to sleep. There is no need to worry." she said softly.

"Will you be here when I wake up?" Will asked hopingly.

Sable smiled at her.

"I'm afraid not, little one. I need to return to our family. But I promise, we will meet again."

Will looked sad and a little confused. After all she didn't know that she should be a part of the lion family, but I think I will explain her and Cornelia everything when they are feeling better.

She slowly closed her eyes and quickly drifted off into sleep.

"I can't believe it. William found a way to enter her mind!" Sable breezed.

I looked confused. Was that even possible?

"What do you mean? And who is William?" Cornelia asked confused.

"He must have used his magic. But I guess it only works when you smell something funny." Abasat said absent mindedly.

Sable nodded. "I have to go. I will make preparations for William's possible attack. You make sure Will recovers."

Abasat nodded. "I will old friend. I will."

With that Sable stood up and ran away. Irma, Cornelia and I followed her. We wanted to ask more.

"Wait! Please! We want to know more!" I called after.

But she was already too far away to hear me.

"Well that sucks. And who is that William?" Cornelia asked.

Irma and I looked at each other.

"Come Corny, we will tell you everything." Irma said as we walked back.

"Don't call me that!" Cornelia snapped.

We all laughed and went quickly back to our nest.

_**Well.. That was it. I hope I didn't let you down. Now I'm giving this story a rest so I can continue with my two others. I guess you've noticed that this story didn't have many POV's but that's because I wanted to give you the background on William. Hope you liked it!**_

_**Review, svp.**_


	8. My bad

**_Thanks to the all seeing eye of Lexvan I noticed that I posted the wrong chapter... So for everyone let this be a lesson! Never upload at 10 PM while you're already half asleep!  
Lexvan, Thank you._**

**Chapter 8 My bad.**

_Will's POV:_

"And that's all that happened." Irma concluded.

It was three days after our arrival at the wolves and Irma, Taranee and Cornelia were just done with explaining everything that had happened while I was sleeping. I couldn't really believe it… Cornelia trying to kill me but she didn't in the end. Taylor and the hyena's trying to kill me and the story that lion… Sable told to Taranee and Irma about that guy, William.

I looked in amazement at the girls. They were all waiting for my reaction.

"Wow." I said.

I then looked at Cornelia. She was looking rather nervous as she tried to meet my gaze.

"Cornelia." I said.

Cornelia looked me in my eyes and I saw a tear rolling over her cheek.

"Will, I…" she started but stopped when I hugged her firmly.

"Thank you." I said muffled as I hugged her tighter. "You saved my life."

Cornelia hugged me back and not much later Irma and Taranee joined us. After our hug we looked at each other. We were all smiling but then I noticed that Irma was looking at Cornelia with a nasty smile.

"Irma…" I said threateningly. "You are not going to tease Cornelia now, are you?"

This made Cornelia glare at Irma, Taranee sigh and Irma looking at me with the most innocent look on her face.

"What do you mean? I would never tease Corny." Irma said even more innocently.

This made Cornelia growl at Irma and me shaking my head.

"Okay, if you say so." I said.

Irma's smile became only wider after hearing this and Cornelia seemed a little frightened by Irma. Taranee was looking at Irma with a face that clearly said 'Oh no you don't!'

"So here you are!"

We turned around to see a really annoyed Brenda standing at the rim of the forest.

"What do you want Brenda?" Cornelia spat at her.

Brenda ignored the venom in Cornelia's voice and glared at us.

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if Grandmother hadn't sent me." she barked. "She says that you need to report to her at the den. I swear I don't get it why you four get a few days off."

We ignored the last part and got up. We ran back to the den, knowing that Grandmother would start ranting that we were too slow. When we arrived we saw her sitting next to Abasat.

"You called for us, Grandmother, ma'am?" I said while straightening my back.

The others followed my example. If it wasn't for Cornelia then we would have been getting proper etiquette lessons or something like that. I don't know, I wasn't fully awake when they explained this to us.

Grandmother nodded.

"Yes, Abasat is leaving." she said.

"What?" Irma said shocked. "But Abasat, you're just here. Please stay."

"Miss Lair! Only speak when spoken to!" Grandmother barked, but Irma ignored her.

Abasat laughed a little.

"I'm sorry little one, but I have other things to attend to." he said.

"Thank you for saving me, sir." I said politely and a little sad.

"You're welcome." he said.

He then pulled me in a hug.

"I wouldn't bare it to see that something happened to you." he said jokingly.

He rubbed over my head, messing up my hair and I tried to get out of his grip. When I finally managed to get out of it I glared at him. He just laughed before he pulled Irma in a hug.

"And you, if I were you I would listen a bit better to Grandmother Wolf." he said as he also started rubbing Irma's head.

Irma laughed as she struggled herself out of his grip. She then looked playfully at him.

"I'll try…" she said with a big smile.

Abasat nodded before he turned to Taranee. Taranee didn't look really sure of herself. It looked as if she was torn between running and staying. Abasat pulled her into a hug before she knew it and also started to rub her head.

"And you little firefly." he said. "Don't be scared, As long as you are with your family your safe."

He let Taranee go and turned to Cornelia. Irma and I were meanwhile helping Taranee, she looked really dazed. I turned around in time to see Cornelia trying to run from Abasat, but Abasat was quicker. He gave a laugh when he caught Cornelia and pulled her in a hug too.

"Not the hair! Not the hair!" she whined but it was too late.

"You don't like this? Then let me give you an extra portion!" he said as he ruffled Cornelia's hair.

When Cornelia finally managed to get away from him her hair was standing every way except the good way. I was laughing big time and Taranee and Irma joined in. Cornelia was glaring at Abasat and I bet she was hoping that her look could kill him. Abasat was just grinning at her.

"Well, that is enough." Grandmother barked. "Cornelia, fix your hair and you three stop laughing."

The tone that Grandmother used made it clear that we had to stop or else… so we did. While Cornelia was fixing her hair Abasat hugged us one more time.

"Till next time, young ones." he said.

We kept looking at him until he was gone. I felt a little lonely now that he wasn't here anymore.

"Now that all four of you are here we can start the training." Grandmother said behind us.

_Will's POV:_

Say what? And they say Irma's tactless! Can't she see that we are feeling sad?

"E-excuse me?" Taranee said as we turned around.

"You didn't think that you would live the same way here as you did with the bears, now do you?" Grandmother asked her.

Taranee clearly seemed to think that, that was the case. Boy was she wrong.

"Now I had you let your fun while Will and Cornelia were recovering, but now that you are all healthy we can finally start. Here are the rules you need to follow to live here peacefully."

*Rules… Why did that remind me of the Turtles?* I thought miserable.

"Rule number 1. You are awake and you've cleaned your nests for morning inspection!" she barked.

"You've already said that." Irma said annoyed, but when she looked at her as if she could kill her, she quickly added: "Grandmother, ma'am."

"I know, but some of you (*I'm sure she was talking about Irma*) seem to have forgotten." Grandmother barked at her.

"Rule number 2, you will do whatever I, Harold or Elisa tell you to do. No exceptions!

Rule number 3, you'll eat after I, Harold and Elisa are finished eating. Understood?"

I nodded my head and I heard Taranee mumble: "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now for training. You will run 50 laps around the den a day, climb trees up and down 10 times a day and after you've learnt how to swim you will swim two sun blocks a day. And we end the day with some sparring matches."

My mouth fell open. Was this wolf crazy? We're just eight months old!

"That's insane!" I heard Cornelia say.

"Cornelia." Grandmother warned.

I looked at her and saw that she was looking as surprised as me and the others.

"With all due respect, Grandmother, but before they came I had to run 15 laps! Now 50? I don't even know how many that is!" she continued with a little more respect than before.

Grandmother looked at her. She seemed to think. I don't think that if I had said that, that she would have started thinking about these things.

"Fine." she barked. "You'll start with 20 and during your last month here you will be able to run the full 50."

I still couldn't believe it. I wondered if she even noticed how big the den is. But before I could complain about it she talked again.

"There are days that you get a mission. I could be a recon mission, a gather mission or a hunt."

"I'm sorry, Grandmother ma'am, but what is a recon mission?" Irma asked.

She glared at her. "You will know it when you get one!" she barked. "Now, let's start training. The sun isn't at its highest point yet so we can make it if we put our effort in it."

"What?" I practically screamed.

"Yes, Vandom. We will start now." Grandmother barked. "And if you four aren't outside before I am you can count on it that you'll be running 30 laps and yes, that is more than 20."

This made me and the others run outside and waiting for Grandmother. I'm already regretting that I ever left the bears and turtles.

_Irma's POV:_

And we were running. Did I mention I hate running? And with that I think I hate counting too.

"Keep running, Lair! Just 5 more to go." Grandmother barked at me as I tried to keep up the pace. "So this means that we've had…?"

"15 laps Grandmother, ma'am!" Taranee, Will, Cornelia and I said in unison.

Okay, I've figured it out. I want to go back to the turtles! I didn't think I would reach the 20 laps. I'm exhausted. I looked at the others. Taranee seemed as exhausted as me, Will… well she didn't look like it but she can't fool me. She was exhausted too. Cornelia seemed to have trouble with exhaustion too.

"And stop!"

"Thank the ancestors!" I exclaimed as I fell to the ground out of exhaustion.

Will and Cornelia were bending forwards and Taranee fell on the ground next to me. Everyone of us were breathing with difficulty.

"Okay a small break. You can go to the river and get something to drink. I'll see you at the rim of the forest over exactly 5 shadows." Grandmother said.

I turned my head and looked at the others. Taranee was laying with her face in the mud, I'm almost certain that she wants to kill herself. Cornelia was panting and glaring at Will while Will was just panting.

"No offense, Cornelia." I said as I tried to get up. That didn't end well and I ended up in a sitting position. "But you're Grandmother is crazy."

Cornelia looked at me and even flashed me a smile.

"I know." she said.

Will walked to Taranee and flipped her around. I then noticed that Taranee had fallen asleep and we weren't even at the half of this 'training'. I think I rather get eaten by Taylor than live through this for four months. I looked at Will and I saw her smiling. She then looked at me and I saw a playful glint in her eyes.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she said to me.

I looked at her confused until I saw her plan. I smiled at her.

"Now that is evil!" I said with a big smile. "I like it."

With that said, I grabbed Taranee's arms as Will grabbed her legs. We then started to walk slowly towards the river.

"What are you doing with Taranee?" Cornelia asked confused.

I flashed her a big grin.

"You'll see."

_Cornelia's POV:_

I silently followed Will and Irma as they dragged Taranee towards the river. I was feeling a little concerned when I saw the grins on Irma's and Will's faces. We were now standing next to the river. Will and Irma were standing in the length of the river and started to swing Taranee towards the river.

"Stop that!" I yelled at them through my exhausted state. "Stop! What are you doing?"

"Shush!" Irma said to me. "Do you want to wake her up?"

Right at that moment Taranee opened her eyes. She looked drowsy until she noticed that she was being held at her arms and legs. She tried to struggle out of her grip but it was too late. Will and Irma had thrown her into the river.

"AAAAH!" she cried when she touched the water.

Will and Irma were laughing at Taranee while Taranee was glaring at them.

"You think this is funny?" Taranee said angry.

"Of course we do!" Irma said with a big smile.

"Then let's see how you like it!" Taranee said as she quickly grabbed Will's and Irma's ankles and started pulling them into the river.

Irma tried to shake her off and she grabbed my ankle. I tried to shake her off. I couldn't swim and I wasn't planning on learning how to do it either. But when Irma fell into the water she pulled me with her. I felt scared. I once fell into the water and I couldn't do anything. If it wasn't for mother I would have drowned that day. I started to panic. There was no ground beneath me, only water. I heard Will, Taranee and Irma laughing but I didn't know why. I started to thrash and my head went a couple of times under water. My head disappeared again under the water surface, but this time I didn't come back. I was drowning. Was this how my life would end?

_Taranee's POV:_

*I got them.* I thought with glee. *How dared they to throw me into the water while I was sleeping?*

I saw that Irma took Cornelia's ankle and when she fell into the water, so did Cornelia. I didn't think of it much at first. I mean we could all swim, right? Will surfaced and was looking playfully at me.

"This is nice!" she said with a smile.

Irma surfaced next to her and smiled at me.

"I guess we deserved this." she said with a smile.

"Oh no, you deserve something more terrible." I said.

I then jumped at Irma and Will and pushed their heads under water. They surfaced a little later.

"Okay, okay! I give up!" Irma yelled.

We all started to laugh when I noticed something. Cornelia hadn't said a thing since she fell into the water. I heard splashing sounds and saw that Cornelia was trying to keep her head above the water. I saw the horror on her face and I stopped laughing. I felt a fear coming over me. Not just my own, but also someone else's. Could it be Cornelia's? Cornelia's head disappeared under the water surface, but this time she didn't surface. Then it hit me. Cornelia told us a couple of days ago that she couldn't swim and now she was in the water. Drowning!

"Will! Irma! Quick! We have to help Cornelia! She can't swim!" I screamed in fear.

Will and Irma looked confused at me but then Irma slapped her hand against her head.

"That's right!" she said. "I wanted to teach her how to swim!"

This made Will look more confused but she then dived. I started to panic.

"Will?" I screamed in panic. "Will? Where are you?"

Not much later Will resurfaced with Cornelia in her arms.

"Help me." she mumbled. "Irma, grab her legs, Taranee get to the shore and help us pull her up."

I quickly swam to the shore and climbed on it. Irma grabbed Cornelia's legs and she and Will started to swim to the shore. We pulled her on it and looked at her with concern. It didn't look like she was breathing…

"Is she…dead?" I asked, my voice full of tears.

Will put her ear on Cornelia's chest.

"No." she said. "She is still alive."

We looked at Cornelia. Because of some stupid prank we were going to lose her. Tears started to roll over my cheeks. Suddenly Irma stood up.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Will almost drowned once." she said. "The turtles did something to get the water out of her. They placed their paw on your belly and pushed. But I don't know where exactly… so I'm going to pull the water out of Cornelia with my powers."

"But Irma…You have troubles with controlling them." Will said.

"Yeah, well if I don't try Cornelia is going to die!" Irma screamed back. "I won't let her die because of me! Now open her mouth and get out of the way!"

Will looked shocked at Irma but she quickly opened Cornelia's mouth and then she moved aside. I too made some room for Irma. Irma looked at Cornelia and tears were rolling down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and stretched out her front paws. A light blue light started to glow around her claws. It didn't look like it was working. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Cornelia's dead body. Suddenly I heard a gasp coming from Will. I opened my eyes and I saw a bubble of water hanging above Cornelia's mouth. Irma was panting from the strain and slowly tried to move the bubble away, but she couldn't keep the bubble up and the bubble exploded above Cornelia's head. Cornelia shot up, shocked and gasping for air.

"Aaah!" she said.

She looked around and saw me, Irma and Will looking at her.

_Cornelia's POV:_

I woke up as I felt something wet hitting my face. I immediately sat up and started coughing. Some water came out of my mouth and I heard several cries of joy. I suddenly got tackled.

"Oh, thank the ancestors!" Irma cried. "You're alive! I thought I'd killed you by pulling you into the river! I'm so sorry Corny!"

Normally I would have reacted to the last part of the comment but now I was a little confused.

"Wh-What happened?" I asked while Irma kept hugging me.

"When we threw Taranee into the river, she got a little angry with us." Will explained. "She pulled me and Irma into the river and Irma, accidentally pulled you with her."

"When I noticed that you didn't resurface I immediately started panicking." Taranee continued. "Will dove after you and got you above the water. She and Irma pulled you to shore and I helped them getting you on the shore. Then Irma used her powers and pulled the water out of you."

I was surprised to hear this. Irma…she saved my life! I slowly got loose from her grip and looked at her.

"Irma…" I said. "You saved my life! I owe you my life!"

Irma blushed a little. "It was nothing. At least your alive. If you would have died I couldn't live with myself."

I hugged her before she could say another thing. Soon Taranee and Will joined.

"What are you four doing here?" a voice suddenly barked from behind.

We stopped our hug to see who it was. Grandmother came towards us and she wasn't looking rather happy.

"Grandmother, ma'am." Taranee started.

"I would keep my jaws shut, Miss Cook." Grandmother barked.

Taranee gulped and remained quiet. Grandmother came closer until she got a good look at us.

"Why are the four of you wet?" she demanded.

Will nervously stepped forward and said: "We… were swimming, Grandmother, ma'am."

"Swimming?" Grandmother barked back, sounding disbelieving. "Since when can you swim?"

"Since I can remember, Grandmother, ma'am." Will replied. "Irma and I learned it when we were at the turtles and we later learned Taranee how to swim."

I had to admit. I was quite jealous at the three of them. They knew how to swim and I didn't.

"That doesn't explain why Hale is wet." Grandmother barked back, making Will shrink.

Irma stepped forward.

"If I may, Grandmother, ma'am." she said in the most polite tone I've ever heard of her.

Grandmother looked at Irma, as if she thought it was a joke. She then nodded.

"While we were playing in the water, I accidentally grabbed Cornelia's hind paw and pulled her into the water. If it wasn't for Taranee noticing that Cornelia was drowning and Will for pulling her to the surface then she would have died." Irma explained, looking very sorry.

"You tried to kill Cornelia?" Grandmother barked, now sounding angry. "You will pay for this! No food for four days and running 50 laps a day!"

Irma nodded sadly but I wasn't going to let her. I got up and stepped forward as well.

"Grandmother, ma'am." I said. "That's unfair! Irma saved my life! She got the water out of me! Thanks to her I'm still here!"

I saw Irma looking surprised at me but I was just focusing on Grandmother. She looked skeptical at me and then turned to the others.

'Is this true?' she demanded.

The others nodded their heads. Grandmother looked at me and then back at Irma.

'Okay, this changes the question. Training is delayed until you taught Cornelia how to swim, starting tomorrow.' Grandmother said. 'Now get back to the den.'

We all slowly walked back, Will and Taranee still looking at me in a concerned way and Irma a little behind me.

'Oh and Lair.' Grandmother said. 'You will not be punished for this.'

I turned around and saw Grandmother smirking at Irma. Irma's face lit up and looked incredibly happy. She wanted to say something to Grandmother but Grandmother was gone. She turned towards me and hugged me.

'Thank you.' she said.

I hugged her back.

'No, thank you.'

_**And that was this chapter. Next one will have an air of something new. Sorry for the long update. I was preoccupied with school, a social life (yes I was shocked that I had one), sickness and coping with my Pokémon addiction (I've got Pokémon Black!). I also need to inform you that Divine Power is on a temporary hiatus 'cause I've got no idea how to continue with the story part of our heroines… I'm a sad little panda…**_

_**And don't forget to REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**REVIEW!**_

_**TTigerz signing out**_


	9. I believe I can fly

**Chapter 9 I believe I can fly**

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Why? Why did I listen to her? Why did I go with the plan?* I thought bitterly

I, Taranee, Will and a laughing Irma were now running as fast as we could. A howl was heard behind us. I looked back to see a bunch of wolves, looking angry and wet, running after us.

'Irma, I'm never going to listen to you!' I screamed at her as I ran faster.

_No one's POV:_

_One hour ago (counted from our time experience. For the girls it would have been a sun block earlier)_

The girls were now 12 months old. They had grown a lot during their time at the wolves. Cornelia learnt how to swim, with thanks to a very sorry Irma, and the girls were now capable of doing the full 50 laps. They were the best of the pack, but they never tried to gain a higher place than Mother, Father or Grandmother. They didn't thought it was necessary. Their powers had seemed to have grown with them. Will was now actually capable of throwing some lightning at targets, which made hunting easier, Taranee could now move her fireballs while they were in the air and could create four of them at the same time, Irma was capable of shooting water at targets and moving it through the air with ease. She also, if she focused hard enough, could turn it into ice. Cornelia could now grow plants with ease, trees strained her a little bit and she was capable of moving rocks and creating very small fissures.

Today was their last day at the wolves. Grandmother wanted to do one last training with them but Irma had other plans. While the girls were waiting for Grandmother to appear Irma turned to Cornelia.

'Cornelia, can I ask you something?' Irma asked.

Cornelia looked at Irma with a skeptical look.

'And what do you want to ask?' she asked suspicious.

'Well, since it's our last day.' Irma started. 'I want to leave with a memorable goodbye.'

Will and Taranee now also looked at Irma with interest.

'And you're planning?' Taranee asked interested.

Irma grinned at them.

'All you and Will need to do is to distract Grandmother long enough for me and Cornelia to do our jobs.'

Will and Taranee looked at each other. They both knew Irma longer than today and knew that she was up to no good. But then again, her plans were always fun to do so why not. They grinned and then nodded at Irma. Irma smiled and then turned to Cornelia.

'And what do you say, Corny?' Irma asked with a smile.

Cornelia growled at her and glared at her as well, but seeing Irma's face she smirked. If Irma had something planned it was bound to be funny. So, naturally, she nodded.

Half an hour later everything was set. Cornelia had managed to grow and bent some trees so that they ended up in a hammock sort of way and Irma had filled it with water. Will and Taranee distracted Grandmother long enough and now the four of them were hiding in a bush next to the drinking place. A smile crept over their faces as the pack came to drink. When all of them were standing near the river and bent down to drink something Irma nudged Cornelia. Cornelia nodded and focused once more. The trees slowly started to wave with the hammock full of water. With one powerful swing the hammock broke and the wolves got drenched. When the wolves figured out what happened they heard a laughter coming from the bushes. They went to take a look and weren't happy with the four laughing girls. When the girls noticed that the wolves had gotten over their shock they quickly started to run.

_Cornelia's POV:_

*Have. To. Run. Faster.*

I ran and ran.

'We have to hurry!' I heard Taranee say. 'If we reach the trees we'll be safe!'

The trees were coming into sight but the wolves were closing in.

'When I'll get my paws on you, you'd wish that Taylor had killed you a long time ago!' I heard Claudia yell.

We managed to reach the trees and quickly climbed into them. Irma needed a little push but we were finally out of their reach. I saw that the wolves were circling the tree and were looking at us with killing intent. We looked at them before looking at each other. A smile played on my lips and I saw that the others were as well smiling. We looked down one more time before breaking out into a laughter.

'Get down, you apes!' Brenda scowled.

We just laughed. The last day with my family and still being capable of pulling something like this off. Fantastic!

After some time, when we finally stopped laughing and the wolves slowly retreated, we went down. Immediately we got tackled by Mother and Father. Both weren't looking too happy with us. They motioned us to follow them and we did, knowing that we were in a heap of trouble.

We followed them till we were at the rim of the den. There, Grandmother was waiting for us, together with a now fully grown Lisa.

'You four just had to do that, didn't you?' Grandmother snarled at us as we all looked down. 'You should be happy that it's your last day here or else you four would have been in a lot of trouble.'

I looked up. This meant we were getting away with it! I couldn't believe my …err…our luck.

'But I'm afraid you have to leave now.' Grandmother said, suddenly sounding sad.

This shocked me. I mean, okay I knew I had to leave but still it didn't feel right. I glanced at Will, Irma and Taranee. The three of them just nodded. Of course, they didn't grow up here. I know every bush, rock and leaf. How could I leave?

Taranee walked up to me. She looked at me with sympathy. As if she knew what I was thinking she said: 'Everything will be alright, Cornelia. As long as we're together, right?'

I swallowed as I nodded. Will, Irma and Taranee then turned to Mother, Father, Lisa and Grandmother. They hugged them and thanked them for everything. Now it was my turn. I turned to Mother and Father. Both were looking with pride and sadness at me. I walked to Mother. Even though I was now bigger than her I still respected her. I hugged her. She placed a paw on my shoulder.

'I'll miss you.' I sobbed.

'I'll miss you too.' she said. 'You must know that I'm very proud of you and that you'll always have a place in my heart.'

I let go of Mother and then hugged Father.

'It's okay, little pup.' he whispered. 'You've got someone watching over you, it'll be alright.'

I then went to Lisa. She was crying.

'I'll miss you Cornelia.' she sobbed. 'Even though you were mean you were the best sister I've ever had.'

I smiled and hugged my little sister. I then looked at Grandmother.

'Hale.' she said. 'I think I can say that I couldn't be prouder than I am now.'

I smiled through my tears. I hugged her as well and then the four of us did one last saluting pose. We then walked away from the den. Grandmother had told us that our next destination were the owls. They lived over the mountains in a valley with lots of tall trees. There we would meet the last human.

*I wonder how big these owls are. I mean I've seen some owls around our territory but they were quite small.* I mused as I followed the other girls.

_Irma's POV:_

*Again with the walking!* I screamed in my mind. *As if all that running at the wolves wasn't enough.*

We've walked for sun blocks. The sun was setting and we still hadn't arrived at the owls. At least we had managed to cross the mountains. Boy, it was cold there. Now all I can see are ridiculously large trees and… What am I hearing?

We all stopped when we heard a faint noise. It sounded like a cry, but I couldn't exactly find the source. We looked around, hoping to see who or what was making that sound.

'Irma! Shadow!' Taranee warned.

I looked shocked down and saw a big shadow looming over me. And if I know one thing then it's that you run when you see a shadow underneath you. The girls ran behind trees and I started running on my own. The shadow kept following me.

'Look out, below!' I heard someone scream.

With that I felt that something fell on me, knocking me to the ground. Whatever it was, it wasn't a bird of prey or else I would have been hanging in its claws. _**(Irma doesn't know that she, at age 12, is way too heavy for a bird of prey)**_

'Oops, sorry.' a laughing voice said from my back. 'My bad, but you can't say I didn't warn you.'

The voice sounded female and extremely happy. It also felt terribly familiar.

'Irma! Are you okay?' I heard Will say.

I didn't exactly know what happened but I heard the voice gasp.

'Oh wow! You look like me!' she said.

I was tired of looking at the grass in front of me so I turned around, knocking the person off of me. Then I saw a shocked looking Cornelia, a surprised looking Taranee and a concerned yet happy Will looking at me and the person that knocked me over.

'Ouchie, that kinda hurt.' the voice said.

I turned around to finally see who knocked me over and I felt that my jaw dropped. The voice belonged to a girl my age. She had raven black hair, which was tied with some lianas, into two tails. She wore something that looked like leaves around her torso and hips and under her arms was something hanging that looked like wings, but then made of leaves. She looked weird, but extremely nice.

_Taranee's POV:_

I couldn't exactly believe my eyes. Was this girl, this girl, the last one? Our last sister? She looked weird and kinda scary.

The girl noticed that we were looking at her and I saw a big smile creep over her face while she got up.

'You must be those four Granddaddy talked about!' she squealed.

I raised an eyebrow. It certainly looked like she was our last sister. I glanced at Will, Cornelia and Irma. Cornelia replied with a look that clearly said: "Help me, I think I've lost it." and Will just gaped at the new girl. Irma stood up laughing while tackling the girl down.

'Ouchie!' the girl said again. 'Why did you do that?'

Irma grinned at the girl.

'Well sis, you knock me down, I knock you down. That's the rule.'

Now my jaw dropped. Was this really Irma? I mean when I first met her she was hostile. She accused me of different things and when we met Cornelia, she again acted hostile. And now she is smiling and laughing with a girl we don't even know the name of!

I looked at the others. Will was now smiling, as if she knew something I didn't and I saw Cornelia rubbing her eyes, as if to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

The weird girl smiled back at Irma.

'Well, if it's the rule I guess I should follow it.'

Irma nodded. 'Yep, you better remember it. As long as you listen to me, you're alright.'

The girl smiled evilly at Irma and reacted by turning over and knocking Irma off her. She then jumped on Irma.

'How's that?' she said triumphant.

Irma reacted by struggling against her and the two started to have a wrestle match. The only thing Cornelia and I did was watching in disbelieve. What, in the name of the ancestors, was happening?

_Will's POV:_

*So she is the last one, huh? She doesn't look so bad.* I thought.

I looked at her and Irma wrestling. I saw the joy in Irma's eyes. The same as when we went to swim while we were at the turtles or when she wanted to pull a stunt with the bears or wolves.

*It seems that she finally understands why I've been acting so weird when we first met Taranee.*

I felt my stomach protest. We hadn't eaten after the lunch and I was starving. Besides I wanted to know who this new girl was. I walked up to both of them.

'Okay you two, knock it off.' I said.

They were completely ignoring me so I did what every sane and good sister would do. I joined the fight.

_Cornelia's POV:_

'Now I know I'm dreaming.' I muttered. 'Will is really fighting with Irma and the new girl…'

I looked at the three of them wrestling. First I thought that Will was trying to stop them but when they ignored her she just jumped in the fight!

*Am I really the only one who thinks this is weird.?*

'No, I also think this is weird.' Taranee said as she looked at the fight.

'Huh?' I said confused.

Taranee looked at me. 'You're right, this is weird.'

I gave her a confused look but I quickly looked back at the three fighting girls when I heard a scream.

'Ouch! Will, that was uncalled for!' Irma yelled at Will.

The three had stopped fighting. It seemed that Will was capable of grabbing Irma and the other girl at the same time and shock them. This made Irma look very annoyed and the other girl surprised. Will on the other hand, just smiled. She let go of Irma and the new girl. Irma got up and was rubbing her arm, still glaring at Will while the other girl was now jumping like a frog.

'You can do things too!' she squealed happily.

Not that I was surprised when she said this. Grandmother told me that everyone of us can do things. Will smiled at her and stepped forward.

'Yeah.' she said. 'Well, I'm Will and I can do things with lightning.'

The new girl hugged her. 'That is so spacious!'

I again looked at Taranee, hoping she would know something, but she only shrugged. Irma then stepped forwards but before saying anything she tackled the girl again to the ground.

'I'm Irma and water is my thing.' she said as she sat on the girl.

'Irma… Sounds familiar.' the girl said as she tried to struggle free.

'Irma, go off of her or else.' Will said threateningly.

Irma quickly got of the girl and Will pulled her up. Taranee went to her.

'My name is Taranee, I can do things with fire.' she said shyly to the girl.

The girl smiled at her and hugged her.

*Yep, this is weird.* was the only thing I thought when the girl looked at me. I sighed.

'I'm not going to tell you anything until you've told us your name.' I said stubborn as I crossed my arms.

I heard Will and Irma sigh and Taranee giggle. The girl looked at me and then slapped her hand against her head.

'You don't know? Oh sorry! I totally forgot!' she said. 'My name is Hay-Lin and I do things with air.'

She smiled at me. 'Now it's your turn.'

'Fine.' I replied. 'My name is Cornelia and I control earth.'

'Yippee!' Hay-Lin squealed. 'Now I finally met you! So sissy's, what are we going to do today? Jumping from trees? Swimming in the lake? Jumping from trees into the lake?'

I arched an eyebrow. I was right. This girl is weird.

_Irma's POV:_

I smiled. Hay-Lin was funny and innocent. I also had the weird feeling I knew her. I grabbed an arm of her.

'What about some food? I'm starving.' I said with a smile.

'Of course!' she said happily. 'I bet you guys are hungry like wolves! Oops… I forgot, you came from them, right?'

Will and Taranee nodded but I saw that Cornelia was still having some problems.

'Yeah, so what? Don't you like them?' Cornelia said rather harshly to Hay-Lin.

Hay-Lin seemed to be taken aback by her.

'Well I don't know. I've met one once, but he wasn't that nice to me.' she said awkwardly.

'Well maybe you weren't nice to him!' Cornelia countered.

'Oh boy, here we go again.' I heard Will mutter to Taranee who silently nodded.

I didn't know what she was talking about. This never happened before. I stepped in front of Hay-Lin, placing myself between her and Cornelia.

'Listen Corny.' I said. Immediately I saw a rage coming up from Cornelia's side. 'Hay-Lin is our sister. Can't you feel the bond? And if Hay-Lin wants then I'll be her sister! What about you?' I said.

I saw Cornelia's eyes widen.

'What's wrong with you?' Cornelia yelled at me, tears in her eyes. 'When you first saw me, you was all like, I hate you! And according to Taranee you did the same to her! Now a total weirdo comes up, and you hug and play with her as if she's been your friend and sister all along!'

I was taken aback. I didn't realize it until she said it.

'Guys…' Hay-Lin said weakly behind me.

'Not now Hay-Lin.' I said.

I then turned to Cornelia. 'That maybe true, but I feel a deep bond with Hay-Lin and if you can't handle that then you can lea…'

'Stop it!' Will said.

She went to Hay-Lin and slowly pulled her between us. She then gave both of us a stern glare.

'Now you three are going to listen to me!' she said sternly. 'I don't want to go search for Hay-Lin or Cornelia as well, because of your bickering!'

Cornelia looked confused at Will and I realized that we were doing the same thing as back with Taranee. Hay-Lin had tears in her eyes. Will turned to Hay-Lin, hugging her.

'Shhh.' she said. 'It's alright. What they say is not to hurt you or anything. Cornelia is just scared that we'll leave her for you. Irma had the same feeling with Taranee.'

Cornelia looked shocked at me and I turned away, a little embarrassed.

'Really?' Hay-Lin sobbed.

'Really.' Taranee said. 'She ran away in a storm and we had to find her.'

'Yeah, yeah. You can stop the happy memories.' I said annoyed.

Hay-Lin stopped sobbing and slowly loosened Will's grip. She quickly hugged Taranee and then went to Cornelia.

'Cornelia, I want us to be sisters.' she said. 'Please?'

Cornelia looked at Hay-Lin's pleading eyes. She kept looking stubbornly at her for some time until she finally gave in. She gave a small smile.

'Oh well.' she said. 'You can't possibly be worse than Irma.'

'Hey!' I said, rather offended.

Cornelia ignored me because of Hay-Lin's sudden squeal. Hay-Lin then hugged Cornelia and grabbed her and me at our arms.

'Yippee!' she said. 'Now come with me! The family can't wait to meet you!'

I laughed as I saw her happiness. I don't think Hay-Lin can be angry for too long and with her around, neither can I.

_Will's POV:_

We were following Hay-Lin through a maze of trees. The trees were all ridiculously big. I looked at Hay-Lin. She was laughing with Irma and Cornelia. I couldn't help but smile. They seemed really happy. Suddenly I remembered something.

'_They are now acting as if they are your family, your friends. But when the time comes that you've found the fifth they will abandon you.'_

I shook my head.

*No, that was just a nightmare. Nothing more. They wouldn't abandon me, they just wouldn't.*

I saw Taranee looking at me with concern. I smiled at her but she kept looking concerned at me. I didn't like it how she was looking so I quickly went to Hay-Lin.

'Say Hay-Lin, you live with the owls right?' I asked.

Hay-Lin turned her head and smiled at me.

'Yeah, why do you ask?' she said.

'Well, I was thinking.' I said. 'I've seen owls before and they weren't bigger than this.' I held my hand at my knees height. 'Are those who you live with also that small?'

Hay-Lin shook her head.

'No silly! They are bigger! The owls you've seen were branches from our family.' she said.

I wanted to ask her how big those owls were until I noticed another shadow.

'Shadow!' I warned.

Cornelia, Taranee and I immediately jumped behind a tree while Irma was struggling to take Hay-Lin with her.

'Hay-Lin, hurry up!' she said. 'We need to get to safety!'

Hay-Lin on the other hand was just standing there, looking at the bird who made that shadow.

'Calm down, it's just Daddy.' she said.

'Daddy?' we questioned.

The shadow grew larger and larger until we could hear wings clasp. I looked up and saw a giant Owl landing right next to Hay-Lin and Irma. The Owl was at least two heads bigger than Irma. I slowly came out of my hiding place while Hay-Lin hugged the giant Owl.

'Daddy! Look!' she said. 'My sisters are here! We're complete!'

The Owl looked at us one by one. I felt a little scared when he looked at me. He looked stern. He then turned to Hay-Lin.

'Hay-Lin, you know you aren't allowed to fly out while the sun is setting! It is way too dangerous.' the Owl scolded.

Hay-Lin hung her head.

'I'm sorry.' she said. 'But Granddaddy said I could go.'

'You should have asked your mother or me for permission, not Grandfather.' the Owl said sternly.

'But you say that I have to wait until I've got my own wings!' Hay-Lin moaned back.

'And you will.' the Owl said now reassuringly. 'In two months you and your sisters will know how to fly.'

Hay-Lin looked at him with big eyes while I was checking my ears. Did he really said that we would know how to fly? With wings? I looked at Taranee and Cornelia who were looking as confused as I felt. Irma was just smiling at Hay-Lin while Hay-Lin jumped like a frog.

'Yippee!' she squealed.

I shook my head when I suddenly felt a pain in my back. For at least half a moon cycle my back hurt and it really annoyed.

'Your back again, huh?' Taranee said.

I looked up and saw Taranee looking at me in concern.

'Don't worry.' I said with a smile. 'We all have the pain and my guesses are that our fur is too small.'

'Yeah, I think you're right.' Taranee said. 'Hopefully we get some new fur when we are at the nest, my back is really hurting me.'

'As long as we don't have to wear the leaves I'm okay with it.' Cornelia added softly.

I muffled a laugh and saw that Taranee was doing the same. Still it seemed that Hay-Lin heard us.

'You don't like my temporary fur?' she said with a pout.

'No! No!' I said quickly. 'It's just that… they seem a little cold.'

'But they look really good on you.' Cornelia added quickly.

Hay-Lin smiled immediately. 'Thanks! But I've grown out of my fur half a moon cycle ago and Granddaddy and Grandmamma didn't want to give me my new fur until you arrived. I'm really glad you are because these leaves are really annoying. My back keeps hurting because of it.'

Taranee, Cornelia, Irma and I looked at each other in surprise. Hay-Lin seemed to have the same back problem we had. Before any of us could actually ask any further the big Owl spoke.

'You can stand here all night long or you could climb on my back and get some food.' he said while looking at all of us.

Our stomachs started to growl and we all blushed a little. He chuckled while Hay-Lin was laughing. He bent forward, making it able for us to climb his back. Hay-Lin practically jumped on his back and held her arm out for Irma to grab. Irma looked a little suspicious at the owl but then accepted Hay-Lin's hand. Taranee and Cornelia on the other hand were looking as if they wanted to keep their feet on the ground and I wasn't sure myself.

'Are you three coming or what?' Hay-Lin asked with a smile.

'We're…going to fly?' I stammered.

'Of course silly!' Hay-Lin answered. 'It's that or walk another sun block and then climb the tree. This is way easier.'

'I don't know.' Cornelia said while Taranee nodded.

Irma sighed.

'Well, if you three are too chicken to come up I can understand.' she mocked.

'I'm not chicken!' Cornelia and I said at the same time.

'Then why don't you come up here?' Irma said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She then made some chicken sounds annoying me and Cornelia.

'I will!' Cornelia said as she climbed on top of the Owl's back.

I looked at them. Cornelia was glaring at Irma while Irma had a cocky smile and Hay-Lin was looking concerned at us.

'If you're too scared to fly I'll walk with you.' she said as she made attempts to jump off.

*That's nice of her.* I thought.

'No, no Hay-Lin.' I said, stopping her from jumping. 'We'll come, right Taranee?'

Taranee looked at me as if I said that we would fight a bunch of hungry, false bears. I walked towards her and put my hands on her shoulder.

'It's okay.' I said. 'I'm with you, so no chickening out, understood?'

It seemed to work a little because she nodded. We slowly walked to the Owl and I went up first. I then took Taranee's hand and made her sit in front of me and right behind Cornelia.

'Now you won't fall.' I said with a smile.

She flashed a small smile but let out a shriek when the owl moved. The Owl got up.

'Ready?' he said. 'Hold on tight!'

He spread his wings, making Cornelia and Taranee shriek. Taranee grabbed Cornelia as if her life depended on it and Cornelia did the same with Irma. Irma and Hay-Lin on the other hand were roaring out of pleasure and I felt a little scared. He then started to flap his wings and suddenly we were shooting through the sky. I closed my eyes and I could feel that Taranee was tensing up. I finally noticed that we weren't ascending anymore and I heard Hay-Lin and Irma squeal in excitement.

I slowly opened my eyes and I saw Taranee's trembling back. I looked left and right and saw only clouds and treetops. I looked down and saw that we were very high in the air. Though I thought I would feel scared, I didn't. The air gave me a weird feeling of… I don't know… relaxation? I noticed that both Irma and Hay-Lin had stretched their paws like wings. I saw that Cornelia, just like Taranee, was tensed up. I let go of Taranee and stretched my paws just like Irma and Hay-Lin.

_Taranee's POV:_

I felt that we were going slowly up and down but I didn't dare to open my eyes. I felt that Cornelia was as tense as me. I could feel Will sitting behind me and that made me feel reassured but suddenly I didn't feel her claws anymore. I started to panic.

'Will! Will! Are you there?' I shouted against the wind.

'Calm down, Taranee' Will's voice said right behind me. 'You really should try this, it's fun!'

I slowly opened my eyes. I saw the treetops and clouds and immediately closed my eyes. I heard Will roar with laughter and I couldn't keep my curiosity in check. I opened them again and slowly turned around to look at Will. I saw her with her paws outstretched as wings and with her eyes closed. She really seemed to enjoy it.

Now that I opened my eyes, a feeling of peace settled in me. I looked down but it didn't scare me. I felt that, as long as I was in the air, I could do anything and not be touched. It felt great! I decided to do the same as Will and stretched my paws as well. Flying wasn't scary. It was great!

_Cornelia's POV:_

Taranee's claws suddenly left my shoulders. My eyes shot open and I turned around. I was expecting to see Taranee falling down, not to see her smile and have her paws outstretched as some wings! I noticed that Will did the same and when I looked forward I saw that Irma and Hay-Lin did the same. Were they insane? We could easily fall and then what? Though I couldn't help but feel happy. I may have been raised according the Path of Earth, but this was great! No obstacles, no nothing! Careless flying through the sky. I relaxed and closed my eyes, more out of relaxation than fear.

'Hold tied, I'm going to land.' the Owl said.

I moaned slightly and I heard the others doing the same. I opened my eyes to see that we were flying right towards a big tree. It was bigger than the others and broader as well. Right under the leaf roof a giant hole became visible. The owl slowly landed in the hole and lowered so that we could jump off him. We all landed safely and I immediately started to look around. We were actually standing inside a tree! You could see the forest really good from up here. I saw more Owls coming towards us and I also saw some nests out of feathers. I guess they are meant for us.

'Ughum.' a voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw the Owl who brought us looking expectantly at me. I noticed three other Owls standing behind him. Two of them looked old while the other looked around the same as the one who brought us. I quickly went to stand next to Irma as we waited for the introductions.

'Welcome, young ones.' one of the older Owls said with a high voice. 'You can call me Grandmamma. You've already met your sister Hay-Lin, is it not?'

'Yes ma'am.' I answered politely.

'Ah! So polite.' the other older Owl said. 'You must have been raised by the wolves. Tell me child, what is your name?'

I looked at the Owl with some suspicion but well… I was up here and there was no escape route except for falling so if he wanted to kill me he could do it anytime. So I could as well try to trust him.

'My name is Cornelia Hale, sir.' I replied.

He bowed his head to me.

'Welcome Cornelia. You can call me Granddaddy.'

He then turned to Irma.

'And what's your name child?'

Irma took a step forward.

'My name is Irma Lair!' she said proudly. 'I grew up with the Turtles.'

Granddaddy bowed his head.

'Welcome Irma.'

'And you my child?' the last Owl asked to Taranee.

'My name is Taranee Cook, ma'am.' she answered.

'Welcome Taranee.' the Owl said. 'You can call me Mommy.'

*Is it me or does this all sound terribly childish?* I thought a little annoyed.

_*I agree with you on that part.*_

I looked bewildered at Taranee. I could have sworn that I heard her voice inside my head.

*_Taranee, can you hear me?*_ I thought.

*_Yeah, I can do that for some time now. I just never thought I could talk to you with thinking.*_

I smiled at her while she flashed me a grin.

_*Are you going to tell Will, Irma and Hay-Lin?*_ I asked her.

*_Later, now we have to focus on making ourselves comfortable.*_ she replied.

I grinned as I watched how Will was trying to introduce herself. I had to admit that it was kinda scary that Taranee could hear what I or the others think but on the other hand this can come in handy during hunts.

_Will's POV:_

Grandmamma looked at me expectantly so I cleared my throat.

'My name is W…'

But before I could finish a loud screech was heard. I quickly turned around and saw another Owl closing in on us. I ducked just in time to evade him. He flew right at Hay-Lin and tried to grab her. She dodged him and he flew against a wall.

'Eros!' she said angrily. 'You promised to stop doing that!'

The Owl named Eros got up.

'Well you should now when I'm lying or not.' he said.

Hay-Lin glared at him.

'Eros! Come here and greet your new sisters.' Daddy said sternly.

Eros seemed to shrink under Daddy's glare and slumped to us.

'Hey, I'm Eros. Your older brother from now on.' he said happily.

'I'm Will Vandom.' I said. 'And these are Taranee Cook, Irma Lair and Cornelia Hale.'

He unfolded his wings and folded them around us. He hugged us, I guess..

'Welcome to the family then!' he said while he let us go. 'Hay-Lin can show you where you sleep and some new furs are laying ready for you.'

Hay-Lin quickly pulled us to her and showed us our nests.

'Watch him.' she muttered. 'He loves to tease me and he will do that to you too.'

'I dare him.' Taranee said with a small smile. 'Let's see how fast he can fly with burned tail feathers.'

I laughed as I took one of the feathery nests. I searched for my fur but I couldn't find one.

_Irma's POV:_

I chose the nest next to Will and Hay-Lin. I saw that there was no fur laying on my nest so I turned to Hay-Lin to ask her where I could find it. I saw that Hay-Lin was busy searching in her nest and that she didn't notice that Eros was standing behind her. Eros bent forwards.

'Hay-Lin! Watch out!' I yelled but it was too late.

Just before Hay-Lin turned around Eros pulled on her leaf top, tearing it apart. Hay-Lin turned around angrily and thrust her paws at Eros. A sudden gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew him against a wall.

'Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!' he yelled.

Hay-Lin lowered her paws and the wind stopped. She bent forwards to pick up the leaves when I noticed something on her back.

'Hay-Lin, stand still.' I said as I neared her. 'There is something on your back.'

Hay-Lin froze and neared her. The thing on her back wasn't just some bug. They were…

'Wings?' I said confused.

'What did you say Irma?' Will asked me as she came to us.

'Wings!' I exclaimed as I pointed at the two tiny wings on Hay-Lin's back.

They were tiny about two times my hand _**(Two foot or 60 centimeters, whatever suits you best)**_ and had a turquoise and black color. _**(Tiny Guardian wings)**_ They flapped a little when Hay-Lin started to squeal in excitement but it was evident that she couldn't fly with them… not yet.

'Wings! I have wings?' Hay-Lin squealed as she started to turn on the spot to try to see them.

'They can't be wings.' Will said as she tried to touch them when Hay-Lin finally stopped turning.

Hay-Lin moaned slightly when Will touched them. Will quickly retreated her hand.

'By the ancestors! They are real!' she exclaimed.

Hay-Lin flapped her wings furiously and she actually managed to float in the air before landing on her butt.

'So you've found out?'

We turned around and saw Grandmamma and Granddaddy were standing behind us.

'I'm quite surprised that you didn't find out about this earlier.' Grandmamma said.

'What do you mean, find out earlier?' I asked confused.

'You're wings have been growing since half a moon cycle ago. The same time when..' Granddaddy said.

'The same time when our backs started to hurt!' I, Taranee, Will and Cornelia said.

We looked at each other and quickly started to take our tops off. When they were off we looked at each other's backs. We really had wings! Real wings! I flapped with them and also managed to get off the ground, only to fall back again.

'When can we fly on our own?' I asked eagerly.

'Over two weeks, then your wings are big enough to carry you properly.' Grandmamma answered. 'Then we'll start your flying lessons.'

*Real wings!* I thought. *This is great!*

'Now I guess you want your new furs. We've received these from the ancestors themselves. They will grow with you and your wings will go through them.' Granddaddy said as he motioned Daddy to come.

Daddy came with five packages of yellow/brown furs. The color reminded me of the lion fur. They looked exactly the same as our old furs but when I put them on they felt lighter and warmer and my new wings went right through them. Or at least I think they did because it happened with the others. I also noticed that my back stopped hurting. My stomach started growl again.

'Uhmm…' I said when the others all looked at me. 'Where is the food?'

_**And that was it. I hope I didn't disappoint you because I really tried my best. As you've noticed Will is still a little scared that the girls will abandon her and boy is she going to hate for what I'll do to her in the next chapter! But I'll stop with making you curious. Questions just ask them. Oh! Yes, after the next chapter you'll have to wait for a while because my W.I.T.C.H. girls are going for a meet and greet with Lexvan's Dragon Hybrids from his story Dragon Children. More information on that in the next chapter.**_

_**Though you people out there, some shameless commercial. Read Dragon children, Lexvan was inspired by this story and you would really please him if you read and reviewed his story. BTW, don't forget to review mine!**_

_**TTigerz signing out.**_


	10. Flying lessons

_**[A/N] I lied to you. I've decided to put an extra chapter into the story, so you'll have more reading pleasure! Also Will is going to hate me next chapter, not this one. =P**_

**Chapter 10 Flying lessons**

The girls patiently waited for two weeks for their wings to grow. During this time they mostly had theory lessons about the air, it's currents and what it symbolizes. Taranee also told Hay-Lin, Irma and Will about her ability to talk to them with her thoughts. They also had to coop with a very annoying Eros, who took great pleasure in teasing them because they couldn't fly. He did things such as stealing their food and hanging it in a place that was too high for them to reach alone or made loop-de-loops in front of them and spectacular dives and other tricks in the air while the girls could only watch. The girls took revenge by using him for target practice. He managed to dodge them in the beginning but, as the weeks went by, the girls learned to aim and managed to burn his tail feathers, drench him, pluck him, blow him into trees or shock him, though this didn't happen often.

Two weeks had passed since the arrival of Will, Irma, Taranee and Cornelia and the discovery of their wings. Their wings had grown a lot and were now big enough to cover their backs. This gave interesting effects. The girls had to find a different way of sleeping because else they would hurt themselves. Hay-Lin and Irma had managed to learn how to sleep while standing, though they often fell to the ground during their sleep, Taranee and Will slept sitting and Cornelia slept on her stomach without smothering herself. Now the 5 girls were anxiously waiting for their first flying lesson. They had tried to fly before, resulting into flying upside down, crashing into each other or a wall or flying circles while descending. This of course entertained Eros and he teased them about it, resulting in him flying at high speed to dodge attacks.

'We're finally going to learn how to fly!' Hay-Lin squealed happily as she flapped her wings.

'Can you believe it?' Irma said with a smile. 'We're like flying monkeys! Just which we had a tail.'

With that she turned around to check if there wasn't a tail and got disappointed once again. She had asked Grandmamma if they would grow tails as well but Grandmamma told her they wouldn't. Yet Irma kept hope that she would gain a tail, much to the annoyance of Cornelia.

'Irma, we will not get a tail! We are humans and no monkeys.' she said very annoyed.

'Can't blame a girl for hoping.' Irma said with a shrug.

A rustle of feathers was heard. The girls turned around and saw Granddaddy and Eros.

_Taranee's POV:_

'Girls are you ready for your first flying lesson?' Granddaddy asked.

I gulped. It was true that I liked the first time flying on Daddy's back but flying on my own? I was afraid that I would fall.

'Of course we are!' Hay-Lin squealed happily, making me feel sick and wishing that she hadn't said that.

'That's good.' Granddaddy answered. 'Now, you five, line up at the rim of the nest. Eros you take flight and watch over them as they'll try to fly.'

Eros gave a laughing sort of screech before taking the air. This just made me more nervous than I already was. We lined up at the rim of the nest and I looked down. I immediately wished I hadn't done that. Everything seemed so small from up here. In other words we were standing high above the ground and if we would fall, we would fall hard. I gulped again. I heard another rustle of feathers and turned around. I saw that Grandmamma had joined Granddaddy.

'Now turn around so that you all face the outside.' Granddaddy ordered.

Something in his voice made me calm down. I turned around and took a deep breath of air. Everything was fine, nothing to worry about.

Suddenly I felt that someone was pushing me. I fell towards the ground and started screaming. I closed my eyes and I heard the others scream as well. Suddenly I felt that I was slowing down. I kept my eyes closed but I could hear Hay-Lin squeal in joy and I heard Irma cheer. I also heard someone calling my name. I heard a swoosh and I felt that someone was flying near me.

'Taranee.'

I recognized Eros' voice immediately.

'Eros! Please help me! I'm falling!' I yelled at him in fear.

I couldn't believe that Granddaddy and Grandmamma pushed us out of the nest.

I heard Eros laugh and heard another swoosh.

'Eros why are you laughing?' Hay-Lin's voice said.

'Taranee still thinks she's falling.' I heard Eros say.

*Thinks she's falling?* I thought confused and terribly annoyed. *I'm not thinking! I'm really falling!*

'That's not funny!' Hay-Lin scolded. 'Go up, Will is doing loops and she has no clue how to stop.'

'Fine, you're sounding just as bossy as Cornelia now, you know that?' I heard him say.

'Am not!' Hay-Lin replied back angrily.

'Are too.' Eros replied.

'Am not'

'Are too.'

'Am not!'

'Are too!'

'Sorry, but I'm FALLING!' I yelled to no one in particular.

'Oh yeah.' I heard Hay-Lin say. 'Try opening your eyes.'

Opening my eyes? What good would that do?

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Hay-Lin flying in front of me, flapping her wings slowly to stay in front of me.

'Hay-Lin?' I questioned. 'You're flying!'

Hay-Lin giggled.

'I know.' she said. 'You're doing a great job yourself.'

I looked confused at her. I didn't get what she was saying until I looked down. I saw that I was hovering above some of the upper branches of some trees. I looked behind me and I saw that I was actually flapping my wings, at the same speed as Hay-Lin's.

'I'm flying…' I said shocked.

Hay-Lin giggled again.

'Of course silly! That's why your wings are moving.'

I looked at her with a smile. I hadn't noticed that I was flapping my wings but now that I did, I felt great! I quickly ascended to see how the others were doing. While I did that I had to avoid two blurs.

'Come back here Will!' I heard Eros shout. 'I'll pull some of your hairs out of your head, let's see if you think that's funny!'

I heard Will laugh out loud. I looked at Irma, who was now flying next to me and laughing her butt off.

'What happened?' I asked.

Irma stopped laughing and looked at me.

'While you were hanging down there, Hay-Lin, Will and I came up with a plan to get back on Eros. Will started to make loops and was moaning that she couldn't stop so Hay-Lin went to get Eros. When he came to help Will, she stopped making loops and pulled two of his tail feathers out of his butt. And now he's chasing her.'

I shook my head. It could have only been Irma's or Will's idea to do something like that.

'Hay-Lin, you're idea is fantastic!' Irma said with a smile.

I turned around to see Hay-Lin, also smiling.

'Thanks!'

'This was your idea?' I asked confused.

Hay-Lin nodded.

'Yeah, I was talking about it with Irma but Will overheard us. So she participated.'

'HELP!'

We turned around to see Will still fleeing from Eros but now Cornelia was fleeing with her.

'I swear I didn't know a thing!' she yelled.

'Oops.' Irma said with a small smile.

_Hay-Lin's POV;_

I watched how Will and Cornelia were fleeing from Eros. They often lost height and slowed down on several moments. I've seen chickens fly better than that. I rushed to them and stopped right in front of Eros. Eros had to make an emergency stop and was now flying in front of me while Will and Cornelia were panting behind me.

'Come one bro.' I said with my cutest smile. 'Can't you handle a little joke?'

Eros glared at me but I kept smiling. I heard Will laughing behind me.

'You call pulling someone's feathers a joke?' he said angrily.

I shrugged. 'You thought it was funny to steal our fur, so yes.'

Eros looked like he was thinking about doing that as a payback but luckily Granddaddy arrived.

'Knock it off you two.' he said. 'Eros, you can go now. I think I can handle this on my own.'

Eros glared one time at me and I heard Will hoot behind me. I turned around to see her holding the feathers she had stolen from Eros at the place of her eyebrows, imitating an old Owl. I of course laughed at this scene but Eros glared at her. Cornelia was also glaring. When Eros took off Cornelia started to nag.

'Why did you do that? You could have rammed into me!' she yelled at us.

I kept smiling while Will stopped her Owl imitation and looked down.

'Sorry Cornelia.' she said. 'I just wanted to play some more.'

Irma flew up and hang next to us.

'Lighten up Corny, it's just for fun. You know, FUN.' she said, angering Cornelia even more.

; I know what fun is, thank you.' she said coldly. 'But fun doesn't include ramming each other.'

'Of course it does!' Irma replied. 'Watch!'

With that she flew right into me. I got knocked back. I smile played on my lips.

'You're going to get it!' I said.

I rammed back into Irma. We kept going until Granddaddy stopped us.

'Okay, okay. Enough. If I'm not mistaken, this was a flying lesson and not a "how to knock someone out of the air" lesson.' he said sternly.

Both Irma and I hang our heads.

'Yes, Granddaddy.'

Granddaddy nodded at us before descending.

'Taranee, come up so we can start the actual lesson.'

Taranee flew next to us and gave us all a shy smile.

_Will's POV:_

*Flying is easier than I thought!* I thought happily. *Though I still have trouble with it, but hey! I bet everyone is having troubles.*

I looked beside me. Cornelia, Irma and Taranee seemed to fly just like me but Hay-Lin was another thing. She seemed to be born to live in the sky.

'Okay, listen up little bird wannabees.' Granddaddy said as he swooped past us. 'Today we're going rehearse everything you've learned so far.'

'Rehearse?' I moaned. 'But I thought we would learn how to fly!'

'And what you are doing now is what? Walking?' Granddaddy replied.

I blushed out of embarrassment. Suddenly Grandmamma flew by.

'Everything's in place.' she said.

'Good.' Granddaddy answered, making us confused. 'Now listen very closely. Me and your grandmother are going to ask you questions about the elements. Everytime someone answers right, she has to follow grandmother and try to get an apple from a secret place. There are a total of 10 apples.'

I nodded. It sounded all very simple. I just had to make sure that I was quicker than Irma in answering the questions that were about Water. Then I could at least get 1 apple.

'But, here's the catch.' Granddaddy said. 'You are not allowed to answer question concerning your own element. So Hay-Lin, you're not allowed to answer the questions about Air, Taranee not about Fire, Cornelia not about Earth and Will and Irma not about Water.'

This made me moan while Irma protested.

'Why?' she asked.

'Because you know the most of your own element.' Grandmamma replied.

'Yeah, but Will's element is lightning, not Water!' Irma argued back.

'But she grew up with you.' Granddaddy replied. 'Therefore she isn't allowed to answer the questions regarding Water.'

We nodded obediently.

'Now let's get a start with these lessons!' Granddaddy said.

*_I've got an idea. What now if we used our talking by thinking to give each other the answers?*_ I heard Irma say in my head.

I stared at her.

*_Wouldn't be that something like cheating?*_ I questioned.

Irma shrugged.

*_I'm with Will, I don't think we should use our power for this.*_ Taranee's voice said.

*_I'm with Taranee and Will. That would be unfair.*_ Hay-Lin's voice said.

*_Don't think of it as cheating.*_ Irma's voice said, making me dread about what she was going to say. *_See it as a way for us to practice this power and to gain all the apples so we can split them afterwards?*_

*_If you'd been awake during the lessons then you wouldn't be asking this.*_ Taranee's voice said simply and a little teasingly.

*_I think it's a good idea to practice power more.*_ Hay-Lin piped up. *_You never know when it comes in handy.*_

Hay-Lin had a point. Practicing this power would be a good thing if we should need it in an emergency. We can also practice doing it on long-range…

*_I don't know guys.*_ I said.

*_Come on Will! This is a chance of a lifetime!*_ Irma urged me.

*_Yeah!*_ Hay-Lin added.

*_Taranee, Cornelia. What do you guys think?*_ I thought.

*_Practicing this power could come in handy.*_ Taranee agreed. *_I don't know, what do you say Cornelia?*_

*_Fine, let's just do it. That would at least shut Irma up for a while.*_ Cornelia agreed.

*_Hey!*_ Irma said annoyed.

*_Okay, we help each other.*_ I said.

Irma smiled at me and I smiled back.

'Are you finished with daydreaming?' Granddaddy asked me patiently.

I quickly nodded and stuttered some excuses. Granddaddy waved them away.

'No need to apologize.' he said. 'Let's get started.'

We all flew in a line while Granddaddy and Grandmamma flew in front of us.

'First question. Tell me the properties of air!' Granddaddy said.

The four of us were looking at each other, a little in shock, while Hay-Lin was trying her best not to blurt out the answer.

*_Uhh… was it something like we can breath it?*_ I asked, feeling stupid.

*_I thought it was used to transport seeds to different places and change the weather.*_ Cornelia admitted.

*_I thought it was just around us… Maybe I should stay awake during our lessons.*_ Irma admitted stupidly.

*_I thought it brought destruction in the form of tornadoes and hurricanes.* _Taranee added.

*_What about this._* Hay-Lin said. *_The one who isn't allowed to answer tells through our talking by thinking power the answer to the others? Cause hearing you four guess is really, really annoying.*_

*_I agree, it's better that way for all of us.*_ I said.

'Well? Who is brave enough to answer?' Granddaddy said.

I raised my paw.

'I do!'

'Then tell me.' he said as he focused on me.

I gulped.

'Air is always around us, though we cannot see it. It helps us to breath and it can cool us off during warm days. It can also change the weather. But air can be dangerous as well, in the form of hurricanes and tornadoes.' I said, saying everything Hay-Lin just told us through our link.

Granddaddy nodded.

'Very good, young Will.' he said. 'I see that you've paid attention.'

I laughed a little awkward while the others had all a big, innocent smile on their faces.

'Follow me, I'll guide you to the apple.' Grandmamma said.

She dived and I followed her.

*_Stay in contact!*_ Taranee warned as I struggled to stay close to Grandmamma.

_Cornelia's POV:_

I saw Will fly away.

'Okay next question.' Granddaddy said.

I looked surprised.

'But sir, shouldn't we wait for Will to return?' I asked.

'Nah, that would take too long. I want to do some other things then teaching you today.' he answered. 'Anyway. Tell me the properties of Water.'

I glanced at Irma, who was smiling big time.

*_Mind if I answer this one?*_ I asked. I really wanted to fly a little more. At least so that I felt a little safer.

*_Sure.*_ Irma replied. *_Just say this…*_

I stuck my paw in the air.

´Cornelia! Tell us.´ Granddaddy said.

´Water is used to…uhh… to help life. I mean, it´s a part of every living being. You can drink it to stop your thirst and plants can grow because of it. Water and Earth are always in conflict on which one is better and the one who is allowed to have the biggest area. Water can also be destructive. It can destroy whole forests with a tsunami or when, it rains too much, drown a lot of animals.´ I answered.

´Very good Cornelia.´ Granddaddy said. ´You will go as well. Eros!´

Eros came flying at us.

´Yes?' he said.

He then looked at me.

'Ah, I see.' he said. 'Okay blondie! Follow me.'

I growled when he used that nickname. It was even worse than "Corny". I sighed and followed him.

_Everyone's POV:_

The girls all conveniently knew the right answers to the questions. The apples were nicely hidden in the forest. The girls thought that they just had to fly to the apples, but it appeared that the apples were booby trapped. If they wanted to get the apples then they had to dodge branches, smaller birds who attacked them, nuts and stones that were thrown by squirrels or they had to chase a bird who had stolen the apple. After they finished their flying lesson, they were allowed to spend the rest of the day on their own. The girls decided to go swimming the rest of the day. Will and Irma were the ones who swam the most. Cornelia and Taranee quitted swimming after an hour and were drying in the sun while watching Hay-Lin making cannonballs. When the sun was about to set, the girls came out of the water.

_Hay-Lin's POV:_

'Ha! That was nice!' I said while I flapped my wings to lose some water.

'You said it!' Irma said as she shook her body like a wolf.

I heard a rumbling round. I felt a pain in my stomach. I noticed that the girls were looking at me. My stomach grumbled again, this time louder. Cornelia, Taranee and Will laughed loud while Irma smirked at me.

'Not hungry are you?' she said to me with a smirk.

I then heard a rumbling sound. Only this time it wasn't my stomach, but Irma's. I laughed at her.

'You're the one to talk!' I said.

We laughed for some time before stopping.

'I say that we go and catch our own meal.' Will proposed. 'We're old enough to do that.'

I agreed. It had been a long time since my last hunt and now I could go whenever I want.

'So does anyone knows what we should eat?' Will asked.

I looked at the group. I honestly had no idea what to hunt. Maybe fish?

'What about deer?' Cornelia asked. 'The last time we had that was at least 3 weeks ago.'

'Yeah, deer sounds good.' Taranee agreed.

'Fine by me.' Irma said.

I just nodded. Will nodded as well before turning to me.

'Okay, Hay-Lin. You now the forest better than we do. You will lead the way in the sky. Irma and I will fly with you. Cornelia, you and Taranee stay on the ground. You're nose is pretty advanced and both of you are good runners and climbers.' she said.

We all nodded. Will, Irma and I took the sky. I knew where the deer mostly were so I took of in that direction. We flew for some time, while Taranee and Cornelia jumped from tree to tree to keep up with us. We were nearly at the spot when I heard Cornelia.

*_Stop!*_

I stopped immediately.

*_Smart thinking Cornelia. Talking like this will help us greatly.*_ Will said impressed.

*_Well I first yelled at you but you didn't hear me…*_ Cornelia admitted.

We giggled a bit.

*_Well what's the fuss?*_ Irma said.

*_I can smell them*_ Cornelia replied. *_Stay low!*_

I looked at Will and she motioned us to descend. We stopped when our hind paws could touch the upper branches. We followed Cornelia and ended up at the rim of an open spot. The deer were eating grass and hadn't noticed us.

*_Good.*_ I heard Will say. *_Hay-Lin, search a weak looking deer._*

I nodded and took off. While I searched I made sure that the deer didn't notice my shadow. I spotted an old looking deer near the rim, on the other side of where the rest was waiting.

*_I found one!*_ I said.

*_Okay. Stay there!*_ Will replied. *_Taranee, join Hay-Lin. You two will keep the other deer away from our prey, as well as scare it. Cornelia, you move to a spot near our prey. When Taranee and Hay-Lin started the distraction, you will bind the deer's paws so that it can't run away. I will stun it and Irma kills it. Everyone agreed?*_

I had to admit, it was a pretty good idea.

*_Yep!*_ I answered.

The others agree as well. Soon Taranee came flying towards me and I saw that Cornelia was almost near the deer. Will and Irma were close by as well.

*_Okay.*_ Will said. *_Now!*_

Taranee started with shooting fire at the deer. The herd got scared and started to run away. I blasted the ones that wanted to go towards our prey away with air. I glanced over at our prey and saw that it couldn't go anywhere. I saw Will and Irma running on all fours towards it. Will's claw crackled with lightning and she hit the deer on the chest. It stopped trying to struggle free. Then Irma came. She had coated her claw with water and the water had turned to ice! Her claw looked now more like a bear claw. She slashed at the deer's neck and our prey was dead.

_Ancestor's POV:_

The ancestor dragons were looking at their viewing pool. They were all pretty impressed by the girls.

'They seem to have a natural ability to fly and their teamwork is phenomenal.' Mieko said.

'Yes, they will need that when they go on their first adventure.' Natsuko agreed.

'About that.' Ayame said. 'When will "He" come?' Ayame asked.

Xin-Ying looked a little grumpy.

'Do you really have to mention him?' she asked dully.

Takako walked to Xin-Ying and laid one claw on Xin-Ying's.

'Can't you just set yourself over it?' she asked. 'It was years ago. He left you only because of his new duty as Grand Dragon.'

'I know.' Xin-Jing sighed. 'I would have done the same. I just wish that he had said it instead of leaving a stupid letter.'

'Okay, okay.' Natsuko said. 'You can complain to him when he comes.'

'But WHEN does he come?' Ayame asked again.

'Over approximately 2 weeks.' Xin-Jing answered.

'I see…' Natsuko said. 'And when are we going to teach the girls English?'

Xin-Jing smiled evilly.

'I say, let Draganos teach them. It was his idea, after all.'

Natsuko smiled.

'That's pretty evil.'

Xin-Ying smiled back.

'I know, but it will be priceless.'

_**And that was chapter 10. Now I hear you thinking, "What? What do you mean with, the girls can't speak English? This whole story is in English!" Let me explain. When the girls entered the animal realm, they forgot everything. So they also forgot how to speak English. They've grown up with animals and I could of course write down "grunt" and "woof" and more of that sort of animal sounds but then you wouldn't be able to follow the story. Draganos is mentioned in Lexvan's story "Dragon Children".**_

_**Lexvan, I think this is quite of a surprise for you but PM me if something's on your mind.**_

_**REVIEW BTW!**_

_**PS: The next chapter will be the "last chapter" then you'll have to continue with the new story, which still has to be post, "When Fairies Meet Dragons". You can find it (once it's posted) in the Crossover section between the cartoon and the series of W.I.T.C.H.**_


	11. Reunion

_**[A/N] Please note that the animals the girls called "Mamma", "Mother", "Father", "Granddaddy" etc. have real names like Sable. I just only mentioned the names of the lions because I was dead lazy of thinking of new names. But now the laziness hits me because I still have to think of new names…What a drag.**_

**Chapter 11 Reunion**

Another two weeks passed and the girls had increased their flying skills. Today was the day of the Great Ritual. Granddaddy and Grandmamma had told them about the big annual reunion of the main animal tribes. The Wolves, Bears, Monkeys, Turtles, Owls and Lions would meet at an open spot near the Owl's nest. There they would summon the ancestor dragons and ask them for a gift. The girls were terribly excited because, not only would they see their own families again but they would meet the other families and the ancestor dragons as well. Will especially was terribly nervous because she would meet her actual family. Granddaddy and Grandmamma were busy with the preparations and waiting for the guests (the ritual could only take place at sunset) so Eros took the five girls for a small flight.

_Ancestors' POV:_

'So… in a couple of hours we will be summoned.' Mieko said.

'I'm feeling pretty nervous.' Ayame admitted.

'You have no reason to be nervous.' Takako said. 'I mean, you don't have an awkward moment with Him.'

Xin Jing's look darkened when Ayame started to jump.

'Oh! I remember! Draganos contacted me two days ago…' she said before cowering under Xin Jing's gaze.

'What?' Natsuko said shocked. 'Why didn't you tell us?'

Ayame looked a little sheepishly.

'Uh… I forgot?' she said.

The four other dragons looked at her with amazement.

'You forgot?' Xin Jing said coldly. 'How could you forget?'

Ayame cowered again under her gaze.

'I was just so happy with our charge… I was just too distracted to tell you.'

Xin Jing sighed. She looked tiredly at Ayame.

'What did he say?' she asked.

'He asked if he could come and take the girls.' Ayame answered.

'And what did you say?' Natsuko asked.

Ayame shuffled with her front paws and looked kinda nervous.

'I…uhh… I said… uhh… That he could come around…uhm…now.'

'NOW?' the four other dragons yelled.

A knocking sound echoed through the palace and their caves. A man, who had brought W.I.T.C.H. to the palace, appeared.

'My ladies.' he said. 'A guest has appeared at the front door. Should I let him in?'

The four dragons looked at Xin-Jing. She glared one more time at Ayame before changing into her human appearance.

'Let him in, Jarvan.' she said.

Jarvan bowed.

'As you wish.'

Jarvan walked away while the other dragons followed Xin-Jing example. Each of them transformed into their human appearance.

'Mistresses.' a voice said.

The five women turned around and saw that Jarvan was back. Behind him was a mix between human and dragon standing. The Hybrid was standing behind Jarvan and he was a head taller than him. He had a silver dragon's head and some scales on his limbs but he was dressed in normal human clothes and his appearance itself was human as well. Ayame noticed him first and without a warning she ran towards him, hugging him.

'Draganos!' she said. 'It's so good to see you!'

Draganos returned the hug.

'Thank you Matsuki.' he said. 'It's good to see you as well.'

Ayame broke out of the hug and smiled at him.

'How many times do I have to tell you that you can call me by my first name?'

Draganos smiled.

'It's only fitting to call a beautiful lady with her last name out of respect for her beauty.' he said slyly.

Ayame giggled at his words. The other women walked to the two.

'How are you doing, Draganos?' Mieko asked.

'Same old. Same old.' Draganos replied.

'Long time no see.' Takako said.

'Oh well… You know I was being busy with my new tasks and all.' he replied a little nervous.

'And how is your brother doing?' Natsuko asked. 'Last time we saw him he was a bit cranky because his spot as the Leader of the Grand Dragons was denied.'

Draganos looked a little dark.

'I'm afraid he is no longer on the side of good now.' he said with a heavy voice. 'He traveled to the Shadow Realm and tapped into the Dark Crystal's power. He's a dark Dragon now, who wants to take revenge and who tries to turn other Dragons to his side.'

The five women all gasped and clasped their hands in front of their mouths.

'Dragas? A dark Dragon?' Natsuko said with tears in her eyes.

Ayame hugged her as she silently cried. Draganos looked sadly at the ground before looking up again.

'Yes. But don't worry.' he said. 'I've got the feeling that all things will end well.'

He then turned to Xin-Jing. She hadn't said a thing since his arrival. He smiled awkwardly and slowly walked to her. He kneeled and took one of her hands and kissed it.

'Flattery isn't going to help you, you know.' Xin-Jing said a little cold.

'Trying doesn't hurt.' he replied.

The hand that he had kissed turned into a dragon claw and slapped him in the face. Even though there was a little heavy ambiance hanging around, the other women couldn't help but to giggle. Draganos was nursing his cheek while Xin-Jing turned her hand back to normal.

'And here I was thinking that we could settle this as two grown Dragons.' Draganos said.

'Be happy that we settle this as humans or else I would have bitten your head off.' Xin-Jing replied.

'Look, what is your problem?' Draganos asked a little annoyed.

'What my problem is?' Xin-Jing repeated angered. 'You don't know what my problem is?'

'No!' Draganos said annoyed. 'I only know that you're angry with me because how I left.'

'Maybe you should have used your intellect! Leaving while you only left a letter for me to read! And you dare to call yourself a Grand Dragon! More like a Grand Chicken!'

The two started a quarrel while Ayame, Natsuko, Takako and Mieko shook their heads.

'Those two are going to go at each other for some time.' Takako said with a sigh.

'I think we could better leave them alone and watch our charge.' Mieko proposed.

'I agree.' Natsuko and Ayame chorused.

When the four ancestor Dragons resumed their watch over their charge their eyes widened.

'You two! stop your bickering!' Ayame yelled. 'We've got bigger problems!'

Xin-Jing and Draganos stopped their bickering and hurried to the pool. They looked in it as well and their eyes widened. Their charge was being attacked. By vultures.

_Eros' POV:_

Of course this had to happen. We take a harmless flight and suddenly and out of nowhere these vultures attack us! If it were just two or three I wouldn't be so worried, or hurt. But us six versus at least twenty vultures? That's madness!

'Will!' I yelled. 'Dive!'

Will dove just in time to evade a vulture clawing at her. She responded by shooting some lightning from her hands at the nasty bird. It got hit and fell to the ground. She smiled at me before her eyes widened in terror.

'Eros! Behind you!' she yelled.

I turned around but I was too late. Two vultures flew at me and clawed me and pecked me. When they flew over I saw a fire ball and a water ball fly at them. Both got hit and descended as well.

'This is useless!' Cornelia yelled.

She summoned some vines to capture a vulture. Immediately two others appeared.

'For everyone of them we take down, two return!'

Right then the vultures stopped attacking.

'Why are you making it so difficult? We only want to help you! This was what you planned, right?' the ugliest vulture said. I guess that he's the head of this squadron.

I looked confused at the flock of birds as well as the girls. What, in the name of the ancestors, were they talking about? But before any of us could reply to this very weird message the head vulture shot a beam at me. I saw it too late and it hit me in my left wing. I screeched in pain and started to descend as well.

_Will's POV:_

First these wacko birds attack us, then say something weird and now they attacked Eros in the same way we were attacking them! How can they use magic? I didn't think too long about that as I dove to try and catch Eros. Hay-Lin flew right beside me. Up above I could hear Cornelia demand.

'How did you do that?' she said.

I heard the vultures laugh.

'Don't act as if you don't know!' one of them said. 'You know very well that our, as well as your, Master gave these magical rings to us.'

My eyes widened. I heard Hay-Lin gasp in shock and I saw that Eros was looking dark.

'They're talking about William.' Eros growled weakly. 'But I'm sure that none of you have ever seen him.'

I felt a little awkward as I together with Hay-Lin managed to grab his wings. I mean I kinda saw in my dream…I think. We flew up again to face the vultures. As we did I could see the shocked looks on Taranee's, Cornelia's and Irma's faces. I also saw that every vulture had a small ring around its claw.

'We've never seen William and he isn't our master!' Irma yelled angrily.

One of the vultures shot a beam at her.

'Irma!' we yelled simultaneously.

Irma saw the beam coming and curled into a flying ball. Suddenly water appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Irma. The beam hit the ball of water but Irma didn't seem hurt. When she peeked between her arms the water fell to the ground. She then looked at the vultures.

'Yeah!' she said with a big smirk. 'Not so big now, are we?'

The vultures screeched and started attacking us again. Only this time they used their magic as well. Hay-Lin and I dodged a couple of vultures and we temporarily save. We let go of Eros and he managed to fly again.

'Eros, go home!' I commanded.

Eros looked shocked at me.

'What?' he said. 'No! Will, I'm your brother! It's my duty to protect you!'

We then dodged a beam of magic.

'That may be.' I said. 'But you are too weak. You even have trouble with flying. No, you go back and warn the others. By now some families should be there. Warn them. Ask them to help us.'

Eros looked at me with some stubbornness. So I gave him another reason.

'You can't defend yourself from these beams!' I added.

'And you can?' he asked me angrily.

I knew he knew that I could but that he just said that because he was scared for me. As if something wanted to prove him that I could, a beam came at us. Instead of dodging I kept steady. I felt the lightning going through my body and I willed it to form the same bubble that Irma had formed not too long ago. Only my bubble was made out of lightning, not water. The beam hit it but we weren't harmed. I saw Hay-Lin looking at me with some admiration and a big smile. While my bubble was slowly disappearing I looked again in Eros' eyes.

'Yes.' I said calmly.

Eros sighed and nodded.

'Fine. I'll go.' he said. 'Just stay alive until help has arrived.'

I smiled at him.

'Sure.'

_Eros' POV:_

I looked one more time back. I saw Hay-Lin and Will flying away when suddenly a big black mist appeared. It seemed that it only covered Will. I wanted to rush back but Hay-Lin had noticed me.

'Eros! Go get help!' she yelled at me.

I gritted my beak and turned back, towards home. I flew as quick as I could with my injured wing. I knocked against some branches when I finally managed to see our home. I didn't have the strength to fly into our nest but it wasn't needed. My grandparents and parents, as well as the two lions, three monkeys, one bear, four wolves and three turtles were sitting at the root of our tree. I tried to land graciously but I felt that my energy was draining quicker than I thought. My landing ended into a crash landing. I steered at the root of the tree and nearly lost consciousness when I hit the ground.

'Eros!' I heard my mother say in fear.

Now more animals were calling my name but I stopped them.

'Please.' I said weakly. 'The girls…'

'What's with them?' Granddaddy asked concerned.

'We were ambushed… Vultures were attacking us… They can use magic, thanks to Will…iam.' I said weakly.

'Where? Where are they?' a raw voice said.

I didn't bother to look who said that.

'East wards.' I said. 'Near the Icy Mountains.'

After that I lost consciousness.

_Sable's POV:_

The young Owl fainted right in front of our eyes. I felt a little concerned for him but it was not the same feeling of concern I had towards the girls. I turned the Turtles.

'Adriana!' he said to the female Turtle. 'Can you together with Wally and Chrit watch over this young Owl and try to heal him?'

'Of course I can.' Adriana replied as she moved to go and check on the young Owl. Chrit whined at me but I ignored it.

'Why do I have to stay?' he said. 'I want to help too!'

'Chrit! If you want to help your sisters than you stay here and heal the Owl.' Wally's gruff voice said.

I turned to the other animals.

'We have to move quick.' I said. 'The Ancestors may know what William is trying to do now!'

'Of course we'll come.' Kimberly the bear said. 'He'll rue the day that he touched our kin!'

'Okay. Kimberly, you take the Wolf family with you.' I said. 'Katherine, I trust that you, together with Harold and Elisa, can sniff the girls out.'

'Of course.' Katherine, the Alfa Wolf said. 'We're famous because of our nose.'

'Baloo. You and Abasat take the trees. You two should be able to jump on the vultures from the trees.' I said to the monkey who came with Kimberly.

He nodded his head.

'Xephos. You together with Janice, Lawrence and Rina will take the air and take the vultures out or make them descend.'

'We will do as you ask.' the eldest Owl said.

'What about us?' a younger monkey asked me.

But before I could answer him, his father did.

'Peter, you are NOT coming with us.' Baloo said sternly.

'What! Why not?' Peter said angered. 'They're my sisters as well!'

'It's too dangerous for you. At least for now. I don't want to risk your life.' his father said.

'But Dad!' Peter whined.

'No more word about it young monkey!' Kimberly growled. 'Listen to your father.'

Peter hung his head.

'Yes Momma.' he said in compliance.

'Same goes for you, private.' Adriana said to the youngest of her small pack.

'What?' the young Wolf said shocked but after seeing the look her parents and grandmother were giving her she quickly shrunk.

'Yes, ma'am.' she then said.

I turned to my young charge. If I had taken Will then she would have grown up with Tala, my own cub. I saw that Tala was looking at me with a look that told me that she would go, no matter what.

'Tala.' I said. 'You stay close to me. This will be your first fight.'

Tala smiled and rubbed her cheek against mine.

'Thank you Mom.' she said. 'I really want to save them.'

'I know.' I said.

I noticed that the other young cubs wanted to complain to their parents about my decision but their parents glares were enough to silence them.

'Let's go save them!' I said as we headed out.

_Will's POV:_

Great! I saw Eros flying away and suddenly I'm in this weird mist! The only thing I was sure off was that I was standing on the ground.

'Irma!' I called. 'Taranee! Cornelia! Hay-Lin!'

There was no answer. I couldn't see a thing and decided that it would be a better idea to walk on all fours. That way I could feel better. I slowly started walking through the darkness until I heard their voices. I ran the sound of their voices but stopped when I could understand what they were saying.

'Well done.' I heard Cornelia say.

I could actually see her smirking at the vultures.

'Yeah. Now we finally rid ourselves of that pest.' Irma said.

I was hurt. Were they talking about…me?'

'Yes, Will. They are talking about you.'

Shivers ran up my spine as I recognized that voice. The sounds and images from my sisters disappeared as I quickly turned around to see him. Taylor.

'What are you doing here?' I demanded.

'I am here to give you one more chance to let you join my master.' he said casually.

'And why should I believe you?' I spat at him. 'Last thing I remember was that you tried to kill me. Twice!'

Taylor laughed softly.

'Hehehe…Yeah, well. Master has seen you growing up. He has taken a liking into you like a… how is it called again? Ah yes. Like a real big brother. He wants you at his side when he takes what should be rightfully his.'

I staggered backwards.

'Well I don't like him!' I said. 'He tried to make me believe that my sisters didn't like me!'

'And what makes you so sure they do?' he countered.

'I saw it in my dream!' I yelled at him, but suddenly I started to feel unsure.

'You do know that dreams are not real, right?' he said as he slowly walked up to me.

I didn't move from my spot but I did go and stand on my hind paws so that I would be bigger than him. Not that he seemed to care. He circled around me, so close that I could almost feel his fur against my skin.

'What you just saw and heard.' he said. 'That was real.'

'I didn't see anything!' I lied to him.

'You didn't?' he said calmly. 'Then, let's watch what they are saying about you now.'

Another image appeared in the black mist. I saw my sisters laughing together and throwing apples at each other, while Hay-Lin tried to catch them.

'This is fun!' Taranee said.

'This is way better without Will!' Cornelia added.

Hay-Lin caught the apple and let it spin on her nose.

'I know right? I mean, you guys have been waiting for the moment that you would finally meet me so you could dump her. She is really an annoying fly.'

Tears sprung in my eyes as I heard them say that. This couldn't be them. They wouldn't act like this…Would they?

'Though I wish that we could have been the ones to finish her.' Irma said.

Hay-Lin threw the apple at Irma's head.

'You know what the Master has said. We are only allowed to kill her if she decides to turn against him.' Hay-Lin scolded with an evil smirk.

'Enough!' I yelled.

The image disappeared again. I glared at the tiger.

'Why did you let me see that?' I asked him.

'To show you the truth.' he said. 'I don't want you to get hurt.'

I didn't look at him. He kept circling around me but I could still hear the things my sisters said echoing through my head. How could they? After all we've been through? No… I wasn't going to give up. Not now! I trust my sisters and I know that they wouldn't do this.

'This is fake.' I said dryly.

Taylor stopped his circling and looked at me with a sparkle in his eyes.

'Is it?' he questioned lightly. 'Then let's see if you're right.'

Again an image appeared. Again with the girls saying bad thing about me. I wasn't sure for how long I could keep up with this. But one thing was for sure. I should not give up hope.

_Ancestors' POV:_

'Seems like that Keeper has a fiery spirit and some more confidence than the one from the Dragoons' universe.' Draganos commented. 'She must have been raised well.'

'She is, but I wonder if her willpower is already strong enough to let her stay sane as she faces her greatest fears.' Xin-Jing commented.

'I just wish we could do something!' Ayame said concerned.

'You know we can't.' Takako replied. 'We have the same role as the Oracle. The only time when we can intervene big time is during the Great Ritual.'

'That doesn't mean that it doesn't sucks.' Ayame mumbled.

All six dragons returned their attention to the pool.

_Hay-Lin's POV:_

'Will!' Irma and I yelled.

Eros wasn't gone or those stupid vultures did something to Will. They dropped some kind of berry which … boomed? Yeah boomed the moment it touched Will. Now a black mist surrounds her and we can't get to her! Those vultures are blocking our way.

'What have you done?' Taranee yelled angrily.

'Our master told us to do this.' the head vulture said. 'First we had to say that you four worked for him so to make the girl doubt you. Now we just have to wait until she joins us.'

'Will will never join your master!' I yelled.

For some reason the other girls were less sure.

'What's wrong guys?' I asked.

'Back at the wolves… Something similar happened.' Irma confessed.

'Really?' I asked surprised.

'Yeah… William managed to enter Will's mind and he started to make her think that we hated her.' Taranee said softly.

'While his other minion, Taylor, tried to make me kill her.' Cornelia said angrily.

I stared at them. What they said sounded stupid. How could that happen? Why would it happen anyway?

'But we managed to clear her doubts and Corny saw that she was about to do something wrong.' Irma said.

Cornelia growled slightly but didn't say much.

'At least we thought we cleared those doubts.' Taranee said.

'So there is nothing to be afraid off, right? I mean Will knows we love her.' I said, feeling relieved.

The other three looked a little uneasy at me.

'What?' I asked.

'William made her believe that…' Taranee started but she couldn't continue.

'Once we found you…' Cornelia continued but she also stopped.

I wondered why they kept looking at me with such unease. They seemed even more discomforted than before they spoke.

'We would dump Will and replace her for you!' Irma blurted out.

I felt hurt and confused. How could that guy made Will think like that? I would never try to do that. She's my sister and I care for her. I felt an anger rising in me. I've never felt like this before. I slowly turned to the vultures.

'Is this true?' I asked them.

I tried to keep my voice steady and calm but everyone could sense that I was pissed. Everyone but the head vulture that is.

'Yes!' he said. 'If the girl hadn't struggled back then, then we hadn't have to do this.'

The other vultures were slowly retreating as I felt that my magic was going out of control. I could feel that I myself was slipping out of control. And you know what? I couldn't care. Anyone who dares to question my loyalty will feel what I think of it! I created a tornado. The tornado was bigger than any I created before. And it kept growing. I dove into the tornado and went after the vultures.

_Taranee's POV:_

*Okay, I admit. I never thought that Hay-Lin would lose it this badly. At least she cares a lot about us.* I thought as I tried to keep a hold of the tree.

Hay-Lin had made a gigantic tornado. I never knew she could make it this powerful. But then again I never thought she could be this angry.

*Have to remember that Hay-Lin is dangerous when it comes to protecting family.* I thought as I looked at her.

From the corners of my eyes I could see that Irma was slowly slipping from her tree. I also noticed that the strange mist that covered Will was still hanging there, as if the tornado couldn't blow it away. Then suddenly I saw Hay-Lin dive into the tornado.

'Hay-Lin!' I yelled.

It was useless. The wind took my words away. I saw how the tornado grew a bit more and how it started to chase the vultures. The vultures made the same bubbles we made to protect us from their beams but they got sucked into the tornado.

'AAAH!'

I turned my head to see that Irma's branch had broken off and she was now flying towards the tornado. Cornelia was quick to handle. She made some vines come from the trees. They then grabbed Irma and pulled her back to safety. I saw Irma say something but I couldn't hear her.

*_Thanks Cornelia.*_

I looked at Irma and saw her wink at me. Of course! We could use our talking by thinking method!

*_No problem Irma.*_

_*Guys, not to be a chicken…*_ I said. *_But how are we going to make Hay-Lin calm down? I can't yell at her. The wind takes my words away.*_

_*And you are supposed to be the smart one.*_ Irma teased.

*_Irma!*_ Cornelia scolded. *_We don't have time for your teasing. Only use your mouth when you've got an idea.*_

*_But I have one.*_ Irma replied.

I looked surprised at Irma.

*_You do?* _I asked surprised.

*_Yes. I do.*_ Irma said, sounding a bit annoyed.

*_Well? Let's hear it!*_ Cornelia urged.

*_Ever thought of trying to reach her like this?*_ Irma said simply.

Me and Cornelia looked at each other. We felt kinda stupid. We've been talking to each other for some time and hadn't thought about trying to get Hay-Lin into the conversation as well.

*_Worth a try.*_ I said. *_Hay-Lin! Hay-Lin!*_

For a moment I thought that I wouldn't get in contact with her but suddenly I could hear her.

*_Taranee?*_ she said. *_Stay out of this.*_

*_That's nice to say to your sister.*_ Irma commented.

*_You don't know how I feel Irma.*_ Hay-Lin countered.

*_She maybe not. But I do.*_ Cornelia said. *_My first encounter with the others didn't go so well. And when they came to live with me and I tried to kill Will… You have no idea how I felt back then. I wanted revenge as well, Hay-Lin. I wanted to take Taylor down. Bury him, strangle him you call it. But I didn't. And you know why? Because I could hurt Will. And you are now hurting us as well Hay-Lin! Calm down! Will doesn't think that way and I don't think that William can get her to think like that again.*_

For a moment I thought that Hay-Lin had ignored Cornelia but then the tornado stopped. The vultures were still in their bubble but they looked roughly shaken. Hay-Lin hang in midair when she suddenly started to fall. I flew up and caught her.

'Taranee.' she said weakly. 'I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I normally would never get angry about this.'

I smiled at her.

'It's okay.' I said. 'You at least gave those vultures a scare. Maybe now we can get to Will. Can you fly again?'

'I-I think so…' Hay-Lin said as she took the air again.

Right then Irma and Cornelia joined us.

'Wow! Hay-Lin! That's was fantastic!' Irma said. 'You really scared those birds!'

Hay-Lin giggled softly and blushed.

'You really scared us too.' Cornelia added.

'I'm sorry.' Hay-Lin said as she hung her head.

'Don't listen to her.' Irma said. 'That was just great!'

'Guys! Remember? Will?' I said, trying to get their attention.

They all looked at me.

'Oh yeah… Oops.' Irma said. 'Let's get her out of that mist.'

We flew at the dark mist when we found our path blocked by the vultures. I felt my anger and annoyance rise but I tried to keep it cool.

'And where do you think you are going?' the head vulture asked.

'Going to Will.' Irma replied casually. 'So if you would fly aside.'

'And what if we won't?' another vulture said.

We looked at each other. It was clear that if we started fighting them again that we would lose. They were with more and Hay-Lin was weakened. Hay-Lin…That's it!

'If you don't let us go then Hay-Lin will create another tornado but this time I'll add some fire to it.' I said casually as I made a fireball in my paws.

The vultures saw the fireball and saw how Hay-Lin mixed a little tornado with it. They weren't liking what they saw. It seemed that they didn't want to end up in a fire tornado. But then their head started to laugh.

'Do you want us to believe that you are still strong enough to create another one!' he said. 'I've seen how you nearly fell from the sky! You can't hurt us.'

'If they can't than we will!' a voice said.

We turned around. We were all flying low above the ground and saw Abasat, Dad and Momma, Grandmother, Beta and Gamma, Sable and another Lioness and Granddaddy, Grandmamma, Daddy and Mommy. The vultures tried to get away but Dad, Abasat, Granddaddy, Grandmamma, Daddy and Mommy knocked them to the ground.

'Dad! Momma!' I cried in happiness.

The others all cried in happiness as well to see our saviors. The animals gave us small smiles before turning to the vultures.

'Where is Will?' Sable questioned, baring her teeth.

'It doesn't matter.' the head vulture said. 'Taylor should have talked her to the Master's side by now.'

Momma, Sable and the other Lioness growled. Momma started to kill the vultures, claiming that they would be a great dinner. The wolves helped her with it. Sable and the other Lioness however started to run at the mist. I wanted to run after her but Dad stopped me. I saw that the others were stopped by Abasat.

'You have to wait here children.' Abasat said. 'That mist could hurt you or worse. Let Sable and her daughter go and pray to the ancestors that everything will be alright.'

I watched how Sable and the other Lioness jumped into the black mist. I grabbed Dad's arm tighter and cried in his chest.

_Will's POV:_

Again with the images! Only this time they were way more real than the last time. Finally when the last image disappeared I fell to the ground, crying. Taylor had taken the liberty to lie down next to me. But I didn't care. It felt kinda nice to have someone here in the darkness.

'You can cry in my fur if you want.' he said.

I immediately turned to where I thought his belly was and cried in his fur. It felt nice and warm. I almost wanted to go with him. He wasn't as bad as I thought… No! What am I thinking? Even if my sisters were like this I couldn't join William! He was bad! I got up again and looked away from Taylor…At least I think I looked away from him.

I heard him get up as well.

'So are you ready to go to your brother?' he asked.

'He is not my brother.' I stated. 'I believe in my sisters! They didn't do this!'

Taylor laughed softly.

'Is that so?' he said. 'Then let's watch one more thing shall we?'

Again an image appeared. I saw Hay-Lin, Cornelia, Irma and Taranee laying lazily on a branch of a tree.

'Say Hay-Lin, shouldn't we take a look at Eros? It seems that he didn't manage to get some help.' Cornelia asked.

'Nah, just let him die.' Hay-Lin said not caring.

'I say we look for him. Check if he's alive. If he isn't we'll eat him.' Irma proposed.

'And what if he isn't?' Taranee asked.

'Then we'll kill him and eat him.' Hay-Lin said with a grin. 'Great idea Irma.'

The image blurred away but I started laughing. I started to laugh hard.

'What's so funny?' he asked.

'You betrayed yourself.' I said.

'What do you mean?' Taylor asked calmly but I could hear a dangerous edge in his voice.

'Hay-Lin cares way too much about Eros to kill him and or eat him!' I said. 'And so do the others! I was right! This is all fake!'

I crackled my hands with lightning and I could finally see something. I saw Taylor looking at me rather annoyed.

'So you figured it out huh?' he said. 'Then there is no other option. I'll knock you out and bring you to him myself!'

He prepared himself to jump at me when I heard two roars from behind. I turned my head to see two Lions jump over me. I recognized Sable immediately but I didn't recognize the way younger Lioness. She didn't look like an adult.

'Sable, how nice of you to join us.' Taylor said.

'Leave her alone.' Sable said coldly.

The other Lioness glared at him before turning to me. I felt a little scared until she rubbed her cheek against mine.

'Everything okay, sis?' she asked me.

I looked confused at her but I nodded.

'That's great.' she said. 'I'm Tala by the way.'

'W-Will.' I said.

'I know. Mom talks a lot about you.' she said.

'Mom?' as I looked at Sable.

Sable and Taylor were still glaring at each other. Then Taylor laughed softly.

'I know when I'm outnumbered dear sister.' he said.

Slowly the darkness started to disappear and Taylor as well.

'Until next time.' he said.

Suddenly everything was light. I had to cover my eyes and suddenly I got tackled. When I opened my eyes again I saw that the other girls were laying on top of me, either hugging me or rubbing their cheeks against mine.

'Will!' I heard the girls yell.

'I'm so glad you're save!' Hay-Lin said.

I knew it. Taylor was lying. They wouldn't abandon me and this proved it.

_No-one's POV:_

After everyone was sure that Will was unharmed they returned to the others. During their walk Cornelia was walking with her family, licking them, rubbing her cheek against Harold's or Elisa's or playfully snapping at Katherine. Taranee was with her monkey father and bear mother. She often rode on Kimberly's back or was thrown through the trees by Baloo. Irma walked together with Abasat and explained him what happened so far. Hay-Lin flew in the air with her grandparents and parents and twittered about everything that had happened and how happy she was that Will was save and that she could meet the other families as well. And Will was walking with her actual mother and sister. She told them what happened so far but was glad to finally meet them for real and actually being able to talk to them more than just three lines. Once the girls arrived at the root of the tree, where the Owl's nest was, they saw the other pleasant surprise. After making sure that Eros wasn't too badly wounded they went to the their other siblings. After that the girls introduced their families to each other. Hay-Lin had found a liking in Chrit while Cornelia found a liking in Peter. Taranee seemed to like Tala and Will…Well she kinda knew everyone already. After that Kimberly gave the dead vultures to Xephos and he brought them to the nest. They then advanced to the open spot where the ritual would start.

_The Ancestor's POV:_

The five humans and Hybrid looked relieved at the pool.

'It seems that we've been worrying about nothing.' Mieko said.

'I believe you're right.' Takako said.

'Now let's prepare ourselves. We can't show up like this.' Ayame said.

The five women turned back to their dragon forms. Draganos looked at them.

'If you don't mind I don't transform just yet.' he said.

'You want to show off, don't you?' Xin-Jing asked annoyed.

Draganos grinned at her.

'Of course.' he said.

'If I may.' Natsuko said. 'The girls are all spirits in the Heart. How are you going to export them to a physical universe?'

Draganos smiled.

'I'm not for nothing the Grand Dragon of Protection. I'll use my own magic to turn them and their clothes physical. It's really easy as long as I don't plan to take them to another planet in their own universe.'

'Oh I get it.' Natsuko said. 'You're simply dodging the rules. Smart move.'

'Why thank you.' Draganos said with a bow. 'Now let us watch the final preparations.'

The Dragons along with the Hybrid looked at the pool. The preparations were almost done. Abasat just had to say one more sentence and they could appear.

_Cornelia's POV:_

We were all sitting in the circle. First Abasat, then two Lions, then the Turtles, followed by the Bear and the Monkeys, then the Wolves and then the Owls. And we Humans closed the circle. Will sat next to Abasat, Irma next to Will, Taranee next to Irma, I nest to Taranee and Hay-Lin next to me. We were all waiting with curiosity as Abasat was pronouncing the spell.

'And now Great Ancestors!' he said with an impressive voice. 'Appear and grace us with your presence!'

It became dark. I looked at the sky and I saw that really dark clouds were covering the last bits of sunshine. Lightning raged through them. I then gave Will an inquisitive look. She held her paws up as if she was saying that it wasn't her doing. I wanted to give her a skeptical look but suddenly the Earth rumbled, Water from the river was heard splashing roughly, Fire erupted on the four corners of the open spot and the Wind began to blow. I felt scared. Suddenly a white light appeared from the sky. I tried to look at it but I would be blinded if I did. A roar was heard. The roar was louder and heavier than I Lion's roar. Then the light started to dim. I looked back up and saw six forms descend. Five of them looked like giant lizards with wings while the last one was smaller. I'm not even sure what he is.

_Ancestors' POV:_

The Dragons descended and Draganos landed next to them. Draganos chuckled lightly at the awed expression of the five young girls. He noticed that the five girls looked a lot like their counterparts from the Dragoon's universe. The only difference was that these girls were dressed in a fur, their hair was crudely cut most likely with a sharp stone and they all had their own elemental signs on their hands or feet. With exception of the Keeper, who seemed to have all the symbols on her body. Draganos looked at Xin-Jing and the rest as they did what they're supposed to do. Complaining.

'Tell us.' Xin-Jing boomed in the animal tongue.

All the animals shrunk at the hearing of her voice. The girls as well tried to make themselves as tiny as possible.

'Why did the five humans get attacked?' Xin-Jing continued.

Abasat cleared his throat.

'Mighty Ancestor.' he said. 'We try to protect them as much as we can but William has his ways to evade our defenses.'

'That doesn't explain why the cub of Earth tried to kill the cub of Energy!' Mieko said angered.

This made the animals who didn't know about that little accident look at Cornelia. Cornelia cringed at the looks. She then looked at the Ancestors.

'I-I…can't defend myself from that accusation.' she said. 'But in the end I never wanted to kill her. She is my sister and I wouldn't dare to kill her.'

Mieko's eyes glimmered with hidden joy as she watched her descendant say this. Xin-Jing decided to have a little more fun and turned to Sable.

'You were supposed to watch over the cub of Energy. You yourself thought you weren't ready to do so and gave the care to the Turtles. It is your fault that the child has a poor self confidence and that she fails in putting faith in her sisters!' Xin-Jin bellowed, making Sable hang her head in defeat.

'That's not fair!' Tala said.

She immediately got silenced by the glares of the Ancestors. Will, however, wasn't planning on letting that being said.

'You have no right to say that!' she said boldly to the Dragons.

All five of the Dragons turned to look at Will, who cringed a bit under their glares but kept glaring back. They were speaking bad about her after all. The Dragons noticed that the other girls came to stand right next to Will.

'You have no right to blame Sable!' Taranee said, shielding Will from the glares of the Dragons.

'Especially not if you are blaming her from things that aren't true!' Irma added as she too shielded Will.

'Will doesn't lack confidence!' Cornelia said, as she too added to the shield.

'And she puts her faith in us!' Hay-Lin said.

The Dragons looked with hidden pride at their descendants. All of them were standing up to the most terrifying beings they've ever seen. At least that should be the girls' first impression.

'So you're telling me that it's wrong that I blame Sable for something she hasn't done while you two have been blaming each other for things that you couldn't control and above all weren't true?' Xin-Jing said to Irma and Taranee.

The two of them looked down and kept quiet. Xin-Jing then turned to Hay-Lin and Cornelia.

'And you, cub of Earth. You're saying that the cub of Energy has self confidence. Yet you were the one claiming that she hadn't. And you, cub of Air, claim that the cub of Energy is capable of putting her faith in others while you've heard that she was the one who didn't dare to trust you because of her fear of being abandoned by her own sisters?'

At this neither Cornelia and Hay-Lin could say a thing. They felt scolded and turned their heads down. Will then pushed forward, trying to block the girls from the glares of the Ancestors.

'That may be true…' she said. 'But that doesn't give you the right to pick on them!'

The Dragons looked with increasing interest at the little redhead.

'It's true I was kinda scared they would leave me but I know now that that was a stupid thought! They wouldn't leave me! And they have a right to trust me! If you think that all those things that have happened over the time that we've been here are bad, then punish me. It's my fault in the first place! William wants me! Not Irma, not Cornelia, not anyone but me! So if you want to blame someone, blame me. But leave the others alone!' she said.

She then seemed to have noticed that it sounded a little rude and she quickly added: "Ma'am".

At this the five Dragons and the Hybrid started to laugh. Their laughing was so loud and sounded so heavy that the hearts of the animals and the girls were pounding on the rhythm of their laughter. Then the Dragons turned to the five girls, who seemed to be a bit shaken by them.

'No worries young ones.' Ayame said.

'We were testing you.' Takako said.

'And you've passed.' Mieko added with a smile.

'A test? A test for what?' Irma asked a little annoyed.

'You five are going on a journey.' Natsuko said.

'A journey?' Hay-Lin said with a quivering voice. 'What do you mean?'

'You five will go to another universe for a full year and learn more about your elements.' Xin-Jing explained.

'Really?' Irma asked with big eyes.

'Yes, really.' Natsuko said with a smile.

The five girls looked at each other. Four of them seemed thrilled to go. One of them wasn't too happy with it.

'Hay-Lin don't be sad.' Will said. 'It's just a year. We'll be back before you know!'

'Really?' Hay-Lin said.

'Really.' Will said with a smile.

Irma then hugged her.

'Come on Hay-Hay!' she said. 'A new adventure! New animals to annoy!'

Natsuko looked at Ayame.

'Oh God. I think Draganos is going to have a lot of fun with them.' she whispered, getting a giggle out of her.

'Okay. That settles it.' Xin-Jing said. 'Draganos will speak to you about it. He's the Dragon look alike who stands next to us. He'll bring you to his universe. Now, say goodbye to your families.'

The girls all had a emotional parting with their families. Taranee got hugged by Kimberly, Baloo and Peter. Cornelia touched heads with her parents, grandmother and Lilian. Irma touched heads with Adriana, Wally and Chrit. Hay-Lin got hugged by her grandparents, parents and Eros and Will touched head with Sable and Tala. After that the five were taken apart from the animals by Draganos so that the Ancestors could do their job.

'So little humans.' he said in English. 'Back at my universe there are six special beings that are very much like you. They will be happy to see you.'

The five girls looked at him as if he was mad. Then Irma turned to Hay-Lin.

'Do you know what this guy said?' she questioned Hay-Lin, getting a soft 'No' in return.

'Good. I thought I was going mad.' she said getting a giggle from Hay-Lin.

Draganos looked at the five girls before considering something. They've grown up with animals. It was only normal that they couldn't understand English.

*_You could have given me the heads up you know.*_ Draganos send telepathically to Xin-Jing.

He saw Xin-Jing smile for a while before he returned his attention to the five girls in front of him.

'Stay still.' he ordered in animal tongue.

The girls didn't move as he walked past them. He touched the ears of every girl. He then went to stand in front of them.

'Now open your mouths and show me your tongue.' he said in the same language.

'Why?' Irma said.

'You'll see.' Draganos said.

Irma shrugged and did as he told her to do. Draganos then touched their tongues.

'Now, can you understand me?' Draganos asked in English.

'Yes, of course.' Cornelia said as if it was normal.

Suddenly she seemed to notice that she wasn't speaking animal language, but English.

'Wh-What happened?' Taranee asked, also in English.

'As I said before, you are going to meet six beings who are much like yourselves. But they speak English, the language that you speak now.' Draganos explained.

'Fear not.' he said when he noticed the look of fear on the girls' faces. 'You are still capable of speaking the language of the animals. You just have to focus on it.'

Will was the first one to try.

'Am I talking normal again?' she asked in animal tongue.

'Yes.' Taranee answered in the same language. 'Only now I can hear the difference.'

'Me too.' Irma said.

'Yeah.' Cornelia said as she held her tongue in disbelieve.

'This. Is. Spacious!' Hay-Lin said.

'Now that we're all settled are you ready to go?' Draganos asked in English.

The girls nodded. Draganos transformed into his Chinese Silver Dragon form, amazing the girls.

'Wow.' they said.

'Climb on my back and we'll be off.' Draganos said.

The girls climbed on his back, mostly using their wings to get there and held tight. Draganos created a big silver energy bubble around him and the girls. The girls felt a little weird but that didn't mind. Draganos took off and at the same time, the girls fell asleep.

'Sleep well girls. Because this will be one adventure that you won't forget.' Draganos said.

_**[A/N] And that was it! Finito! The End! The girls have taken off to the new universe of the Dragoons. This is going to be a whole lot of fun! You don't know who the Dragoons are? Shame on you! Then you should read Lexvan's story Dragon Children. And of course the sudden use of names in this chapter. Here's a recap:**_

_**Adriana=Mother Turtle  
**__**Wally=Father Turtle  
**__**Katherine= Alpha Grandmother Wolf  
**__**Baloo=Dad the Monkey  
**__**Chrit= The annoying little brother Turtle of Will and Irma  
**__**Peter= Taranee's awesome Monkey brother  
**__**Lisa = Cornelia's little Wolf sister  
**__**Eros= Hay-Lin's older annoying Owl brother  
**__**Xephos= Granddaddy Owl  
**__**Janice= Grandmamma Owl  
**__**Lawrence= Daddy Owl  
**__**Rina=Mommy Owl  
**__**Sable= Will's 'real' Lion mother  
**__**Tala= Will's 'real' Lion sister**_

_**Now I'll see you in our next story: "When Dragons meet Fairies."!**_

_**And don't forget to review!**_


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